Max's Special Powers!
by TMI
Summary: Max is one of the normal-er bird kids. She doesn't have mind powers or bomb skills or blending in powers. Then, The Voice and Jeb inform her about unbelievable powers she never knew she had! Kind of crossover with a lot of other stuff. I think it's funny.
1. THE FORCE

**Hello peeps! This is the first of two or three Star Wars themed powers chapters! If that made any sense…**

**Gazzy: It didn't.**

**Whatever. Anyway, on with the story!**

Max's POV

I groaned in frustration, looking around at the flat steel walls. According to the wacky evil scientists who had managed to capture us this time, these walls were a solid foot thick. They connected seamlessly to the identical steel floor. Nudge had tried lifting the walls with her metal power, but they were far too heavy. She had passed out from the effort. Angel and Total sat next to her, Angel frantically fanning her with her hands, and Total trying to give her a pep talk to wake up. Fang sat thinking in a corner, a faraway look in his eyes. Iggy and Gazzy were sitting in another corner whispering and looking furitively around. These scientists apparently knew about their bomb making talents, and had confiscated their backpacks, _and _had them frisked before pushing them into the room with the rest of us. With every failed attempt to turn us to their side, they seemed to get wiser about us. Dang it.

I tried to think up a plan that wouldn't be too ludicrous. Maybe when they opened the seamless steel door to take us out to experiment on, we could swarm them and fight our way out? Hmm, it was risky and desperate, but pretty much our only chance. I hoped it would work, since we didn't even know the layout of this place or where we were.

_Maximum! _ I sat up for a second, then relaxed. It was only The Voice.

_What, Voice? Got any helpful ideas to get us out of here? That would be useful,_ I thought at it. Surprisingly, it answered.

_Yes Max, I have a plan for you. But you must believe truly in it, or it will not work._

_ Oh really?_ I thought back. _What have you got in mind?_

_ Use the Force Maximum._

"What the heck!" I yelled out loud. Startled, my flock turned to look at me. "The Voice," I explained. They nodded knowingly, and went back to what they were doing. _Voice,_ I asked sweetly.

_Yes, Max?_

_ Are you completely off your rocker now?_

_ No, Max._

_ Ah. I see. So you just want me to use the Force._

_ Yes, Max._

_ You're a raving lunatic._

_ No, Max._

_ Will you stop saying that?_

_ Yes, Max._

_ Grr… _

_ Fine. Maximum, you must use the Force to get your flock out of this room. Otherwise, the scientists will kill and dissect you for information._

Eww, nasty_. So the only way to avoid this would be to use the Force?_

_ Yes._

_ We're doomed. _I looked around at my flock one last time. _Hey Voice, can I tell them what you said?_

_ Sure. It doesn't matter, anyway, if you're going to die from lack of the Force._

_ Oh shut up. _"Umm, guys?" I asked them out loud. Angel and Total looked up, and I noticed happily that they had managed to revive Nudge. Iggy, Gazzy and Fang looked solemnly at me. They knew if I couldn't think of a way out of here, then we were bird kid toast. I gulped, and hoped they wouldn't think _I _was crazy if I told them what the Voice said. "Umm, well the Voice just dropped in for a little chat, and it told me…" I trailed off, trying to think of how to put this delicately. My flock waited patiently. Aw, to heck with delicacy. "It said that the scientists were going to kill and dissect us for information. The only way to get out of here is if I- umm- if I-" I stumbled on these last words, praying that they wouldn't send me to the funny farm for this suggestion.

"Max, spit it out. If it's our only chance, even if it's crazy and dangerous and stupid, I'll take it." Fang looked steadily into my eyes. He was right. They deserved to know.

"The Voice said the only way out of this was if I used the Force!" I blurted out. The flock stared at me. I bet they weren't expecting that confession.

"What?" Iggy yelled. "The only way out of here alive is if you use the Force?"

"Umm, yeah," I confirmed quietly. I felt like an idiot.

"That's pretty cool," Gazzy said, grinning.

"Yeah, I know, it's stupid- wait. What did you say?"

"That is pretty awesome that you can use The Force," Gazzy clarified. Iggy and Nudge nodded.

"Wait a sec, what do you mean?" I was confused. "I can't use the Force!"

"Are you sure?" Nudge asked seriously. I just looked at her.

"Don't you think I would know if I had the Force?" I mean, seriously. If I had the Force, that would have been so useful over the years! I could have Forced the needles away from me in the School, Forced our dog crates open so we could escape. I could have Forced the hundreds of Erasers, M-Geeks and FlyBoys away from us when they attacked! The possibilities were endless! My having the Force would have made life so much easier for six bird kids on the run. But since I didn't have the Force, none of those things happened. No, we had to live the old fashioned way.

_Maximum, your talent for the Force has been dormant the first fifteen years of your life. Now, it has awakened. Use it now, or die._

_ Well that was cheerful, _I retorted. My flock was still looking at me. Oops. "Nudge, I'm pretty sure I don't have the Force."

"You never know until you try," she persisted. I sighed. When Nudge got like this, you could be sure she wouldn't stop badgering you until she got what she wanted.

"Fine. I'll try. Just don't laugh at me, okay?" They all nodded innocently and eagerly. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

_Look deep inside yourself Maximum, and you will find the Force. Reach into it, and take it's power._

_Yeah yeah, just shut up so I can concentrate. _I mentally receded into my core, imagined my spirit and, glowing white with my human aura, and tinged with blue from my bird energy. I fashioned a mental hand, and reached into the middle of it. Sure enough, swirling in the center of my spirit, was a dense green ball of light, labeled THE FORCE with a sticky note. I'm not even kidding.

I ripped off the sticky note and plunged my mental hand into the ball. It burst open, showering my spirit and my hand with green light. This was getting a tad bit too freaky for me, so I opened my eyes. I raised my right hand, palm up, and tensed my fingers. I imagined the thick, heavy steel wall simply raising up and falling backwards. The flock gasped. A green glow had surrounded the wall, and with a huge creak, it started to levitate. I wrenched my hand upward, and the wall went with it.

"That is AWESOME!" Gazzy yelled, jumping up and down. He quickly started describing it to Iggy, who whistled appreciatively.

"That will be useful," he commented.

"Shut up. Must concentrate," I barked out, moving my hand so the wall tilted backwards. It soon turned so the part that was previously sticking up was now flat on the ground. We stood in silence for a second as the dust settled, looking at the open space where the wall used to be. The space beyond the fallen wall was a green plain, the sky a clear blue.

"ZOMG Max that was totally wicked I told you it would work!" Nudge squealed, running over to give me a hug. I hugged her back, still staring at the wall.

"So Max has the Force," Fang said quietly. "Remind me not to get her mad ever again." I laughed and yelled,

"Group Hug on Fang!" and rushed over to him. He looked alarmed as we all ran and threw our arms around him, then hesitantly hugged us back. It was a sweet moment, but we were quickly interrupted by yelling scientists running towards us. "Up and Away!" I shouted, and we all ran a couple feet and took off, sailing out the empty space where the wall was, and out into the open sky. Life was good.

_See Max, I was right. _The Voice had a hint of smugness in his normally balanced tone.

_Yeah, you were right. Don't let it go to your head, _I warned it.

_Of course not. _It replied with an innocent tone. _I'm in your head._

_ Okay, Voice? That was the worst comeback in the history of bird kids._

_ I know. Just fly. _And I did just that.

**YAY! Ok, that is the first Jedi Bird Kids chapter. There will be one or two more, then I'll move on to other powers. Review please! By the way, I accept flames, as Mrs Obsession would be able to tell you. =D**

**Angel: That author flamed TMI's other story, then the two of them struck up a conversation about our movie .**

**Gazzy: I don't quite understand how that worked. One insulted the other, then they started PM-ing like crazy. Girls are weird.**

**Nudge: Hi people! This is my first author's note EVER! I AM SO EXCITED!**

**Total: It's over.**

**Nudge: Awww. Well, it was fun while it lasted!**

**I love happy-go-lucky bird kids!**

**~TMI~**


	2. Darth Vader pays a visit

**Hi again! I just realized I totally forgot Total in the last chapter, so let's just say he was there the whole time, but, say, asleep in Angel's backpack! I also forgot the disclaimer, as always. **

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. Tee hee. That includes Maximum Ride, Spore, and Burger King.**

Max's POV

My flock had landed an hour ago in the dense forest, picking our way from our landing site on the top branches , to the forest floor. Every few seconds, Gazzy would say, "Max, Force something!" and of course I'd oblige him. After all, it was kinda neat to see rocks or branches suddenly glow green and fly up off the fallen foliage by themselves.

After awhile, Gazzy fell asleep, exhausted from the long flight from that School, to this forest, which we determined was somewhere just inside the Californian border. After a quick birds eye examination of that School while flying away from it, Fang and I figured out that it was in Texas. Using that as our guide, we put a state or two in between us and that awful scientist-infested School before setting down to rest. One by one, my Flock dropped off to sleep. First the Gasman, then Angel, then Nudge, then Iggy. I could feel by the way my eyelids suddenly weighed a couple hundred extra pounds that I would be next to drop off. With a bout of effort, I lifted my head up from the log I was resting it on and croaked, "Fang? You don't mind keeping watch?" He was playing on the laptop, either blogging or playing his newly discovered favorite computer activity, the video game Spore. Fang loved creating creatures that looked somewhat like other things, things ranging from Iggy to Total to cheese burgers. Oh great, I just made myself hungry. I'd have to get some food for the flock soon. I would just take a little nap first…

When I woke up, the shadows created by the forest trees were huge and looming. I swore silently, trying to block Angel from listening in on that, and sat up quickly. Looking around, I saw no one, not a single member of my Flock was here. Panicking slightly, I stood up and started to look behind a tree, when I heard a familiar laugh.

"What are you looking for Max?" Fang asked, stepping out of the shadow he had blended into. I yelped in surprise and relief.

"Jeez Fang! Don't do that! I thought you guys had all been captured or something!" I scolded angrily.

"Why would they take us meaningless mutants and leave their precious Maximum Ride?" he asked plainly. There was a hint of laughter in his dark eyes, but I was still kind of mad about the whole scaring-me-to-death thing.

"So if they aren't bird kidnapped, where is everyone else?" I asked, trying to calm down.

"Iggy, Nudge, Ange, Gazzy and Total went to go find a Burger King. I stayed behind to wait for you to wake up. You looked so peaceful, none of us wanted to wake you." Fang stared at me, waiting for a reaction. I shrugged, and looked around.

"When will they be back? I'm starved!" I asked Fang, rubbing my stomach. He nodded in agreement, and was about to reply, when someone else did.

"We're Baaaaaack!" Nudge sang, swooping down from the sky and landing next to us, two big paper bags in her hands. Gazzy and Ange landed behind her, Angel carrying two more bags, Gazzy two of those drink carrier things. Iggy landed next to Nudge, also carrying two large paper bags.

"Food!" Fang and I cheered, running over to peek into the bags. Unceremoniously, we ripped a bag out of Iggy's hand and pulled out five double cheeseburgers each. Everyone had their own five burgers, four cartons of French fries, and a drink. For dessert, we each had two of those apple pie things and a chocolate chip cookie. I bit into my cookie first, chewing it tentatively, then shook my head. It definitely was not as good as my mom's. I offered it to Angel, who took it eagerly, then started on my burgers.

After we were all stuffed with fast foods, we lay back and sighed happily. "That hit the spot," Iggy remarked, patting his stomach. Gazzy burped in agreement.

""Gazzy!" I scolded. "That was so weak! After that huge soda you inhaled, you should be belting out perfect tens! That burp was no more than a six." Fang and Iggy nodded in sage agreement. Gazzy looked miffed, and shut his eyes to concentrate. This time, his belch was so loud that it made the leaves on a tree above us quiver. "That's better," I told him. Gazzy beamed.

We all just lay on the ground for awhile, staring up at the tree canopies above and digesting our food. It was a natural silence, filled with the sounds of leaves rustling, birds chirping every now and then, and our deep even breathing as we relaxed. I think Nudge even dropped off for a few minutes, but she was awake again when we heard the sounds of someone crashing through the underbrush.

In a flash, we had all leaped up to our feet and were at the ready for instant fighting, if need be, facing the direction the person was coming from. In a moment, we heard another loud noise, as the mystery person approached. It sounded like someone breathing out very loudly through their mouth with their hands cupped over their face. It sounded like-

"Darth Vader?" Nudge and Angel gasped simultaneously, gaping at the figure that stumbled out of the underbrush. It was indeed Darth Vader. We all stared at him while he stood there and did his loud breathing thing. After a moment of us staring and him breathing, Darth Vader walked very slowly over to me, his black cape billowing behind him as he moved. Finally, he stopped directly in front of me and lifted his mask.

It was Jeb.

"Maximum! I-" He stopped to breath. "Am!" Breath. "Your!" Breath. "Father!" he intoned in a deep voice. Okay, I don't know about you, but I was pretty disappointed it wasn't actually Darth Vader stumbling through the woods.

"Yeah, I know you are, Jeb," I replied coolly.

"Oh. Yeah, of course you do." Jeb stumbled around for words. My reply seemed to throw him off guard. I took his stuttering as an opportunity to make a snappy comment.

"Really Jeb? What is with the costume? Halloween is months away, and besides, I thought you already decided to be Cinderella." The flock giggled, and I grinned. I love irritating grown ups.

"Max, I really don't think it's necessary to-" Jeb started, but I interrupted him quickly.

"And what is this? _No light saber?_ I am _shocked,_ Jeb." I tsked loudly. My flock continued to laugh.

"Max, I just need to tell you something. Something very important." Jeb sighed, and I looked him seriously in the eyes.

"What is it? Yoda can't make it for lunch, so we'll have to schedule him in for dinner instead?" I was enjoying myself immensely, and I could tell the flock was too, judging by their reactions to my comments.

"No." Jeb's eyes were serious, and I decided to show mercy and let him talk. "Maximum, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel. I-"

"Hey, what about me?" Total squealed indignantly, poking his head up out of the fries box he'd been rooting around in before.

"You weren't there, Master Total," Jeb said, too patiently. Was it my imagination, or was his calm a little forced?

"Oh well then. It was probably a life-threatening and uncomfortable experience, like most of these people's activities are." Total nodded at us, then dived back into his fries.

"As I was saying. Remember when I left you to fend for yourselves for awhile, back in that safe house in the mountains?" Jeb asked us. We all nodded, and I gritted my teeth. That wasn't my favorite memory to recall.

"Wait, you mean that safe house that turned out not to be safe?" Iggy asked innocently.

"Yes, I am sorry about that. But I left you all there for a reason. You see, I had to-"

"-go back to the Dark Side?" Gazzy asked in Luke Skywalker's voice. We all cracked up, but unfortunately, Jeb waited calmly for us to stop instead of giving up in frustration.

"No. Actually, I had to play Darth Vader in The Emperor Strikes Back," he said solemnly. We all stared at him for a moment, but he wasn't done yet. "After we finished filming, I made my way back to you, flock. Halfway there, I was captured by Erasers, and had to pretend to be bad still to get out of that predicament alive." We kept staring at him, totally not expecting this. In the silence that followed his confession, he smiled suddenly. "Max, enjoy The Force while you have it. Unfortunately, you used up so much of it lifting that wall at that School that I would say you only have about a week of it left." We all groaned unhappily. Having a leader that had The Force was cool, and none of us wanted to part with me having it.

"What? That is such a rip-off," I complained. Jeb shrugged.

"Well," he replied. "That isn't my decision to make. I'd best be going now. Be safe, flock!" And with that, he went off crashing back through the undergrowth the way he had come before. After we couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, Fang spoke up suddenly.

"How did Jeb know about what happened in Texas?" He asked. We all thought for a second.

"That's a good question, Fang." I twiddled my hair in between two of my fingers while I pondered that.

"Because he's Darth Vader?" Iggy offered weakly. We stared at him for a moment, then I nodded.

"That's probably it." I cast the question out of my mind and stood up from my perch on a fallen log, stretching my wings out. "Okay then flock, up and away. We're going to go to Hollywood to show some high and mighty movie producers The Real Force, not that cheap stuff in the movies. Maybe we'll show off our talents to some crowds too. Not only are we flying kids with real wings, but one of them has The Force, too! We'll be rich!" I plotted.

Gazzy cackled at the prospect. "Excellent!" he crowed. "They won't know what hit them!" We stacked fists, then shot up carefully through the trees, heading for Hollywood.

**Mwa ha ha! See, I did update! The next chapter, Max won't have the Force anymore, but she **_**will**_** have a brand new talent! And this time, the Flock gets to be part of it! Yay!**

**Angel: And if you haven't already and like romance stories, you can check out the story about me! Life as A Teenage Bird Kid.**

**Nudge: I think it's really cute!**

**Gazzy: Blah blah blah. No one wants to read about you and that OC. However, you will love the next chapter of this!**

**When I put it up. It's not there yet, Gazzy.**

**Gazzy: Oh. **

**Well, anyway, thanks for reading!**

**Gaz/Angel/Nudge: BYE!**

**~TMI~**


	3. AN I'm so sorry!

SORRY THIS IS AN A/N CHAPTER!

I will explain.

Nudge: yeah, you better explain.

I'm gonna! Anyway, here is the story.

Gaz: TMI got her dad's old laptop.

Angel: It was kinda slow, but it had Word and Internet, which was all she needed.

Gaz: Then, her older brother took the hard drive out and replaced it with one from an old computer that didn't work anymore.

Angel: Then they had to put the old one back in and load TMI's files onto a chip so they could put them on the new hard drive.

Gaz: They loaded the files, and TMI finished typing the newest chapter of MSP!

(Which, by the way, is really long to make up for the huge wait)

Nudge: Shut up! Angel and Gazzy are telling the story.

Jeez, minions with attitudes. Just what I need.

Angel: After TMI finished the chapter, she went to the internet to publish it.

Gaz: But the internet wouldn't work.

Angel: she tried over and over, but the fnicking internet never worked.

Gaz: So now she's trying to beg her brother to put her old hard drive back in-  
Angel: -which he refuses to do, cause he's a lazy jerk.

What she said.

Gaz; So now we're typing this Author's Note on her mom's computer so you won't think she's abandoning the story.

I'm so sorry! I can't even send the document to this computer and publish it here because there's no internet! I either have to

Beg my stupid brother to replace my hard drive.

Or

Retype the seven or eight pages of the story.

I'd prefer Option A. So I'm very sorry. I just want you guys to know I appreciate all R&R-ers, and I want you to know I'm working on the problem!

Thanks!

~TMI~


	4. Max is the WHAT?

**Hi again! Ok, I apologize if the spacing is weird for the first half of this. If it is, that's because I typed that part on my Notes app on my iPod, emailed it to myself, then copied and pasted it into this document before continuing to write. =D Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender, Maximum Ride, Doritos, Subway or Star Wars stuffs. I wish I had some Doritos though, I'm kinda hungry…**

Max's POV

We were waving good bye to the angry movie directors who had tried to  
buy our secret of my Force out of me and/or put me on contract to  
perform, a few days after which, I suddenly lost the Force. I  
was disappointed of course, but the director who had me under contract  
was positively livid when I informed him about my loss of Jedi powers. I had demanded that he give me my pay in advance, so the money was safely in my backpack when he was notified.  
He tried to call the police on us, and we simply couldn't have that,  
so Angel 'convinced' him he was a tortoise for a few hours, while we  
laughed, slapped high fives, and flew away.  
I decided we would try to stay away from that director in the  
future.  
Currently, the flock was soaring on a column of heated air over  
Oregon. We weren't quite sure where the air came from, but hey, it  
felt awesome, so we just rode it for awhile. Soon, Iggy flew up to me  
and asked, "Max?"  
"Yeah Ig? Do you hear anything weird?" I replied, scanning the  
ground under us for any sign of threat.  
" Yeah. It sounds like a factory. It sounds like it's coming from  
directly below us," Iggy reported, a worried look scrunching up his  
face. Gazzy swooped by us, barrel rolling and cackling his little  
blonde head off as he glided on the air column. I turned my attention  
away from him and back to Iggy.  
"There isn't anything below us, Ig," I told him. He frowned in  
confusion.  
"That's so weird. I would've sworn there was a big factory right  
below us."  
"I don't know what to tell you, Ig. Do you want to ask Fang?" I  
suggested. He nodded, and flew off to where he felt Fang's dark,  
silent, emo-like presence, I guess. I thought about what Iggy had  
said, absently watching as Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Total played tag  
on the air currents. Total was it, and not doing so well. We had had  
our wings for so much longer than him, it was just unfair. Something  
suddenly occurred to me. Maybe the white coats had figured out how to  
create some sort of cloaking device to hide their Schools! Far fetched, but it was the only  
thing I could think of to explain Iggy's firm belief there was a factory  
beneath us. "Hey Angel, can you come here?" I called to her. She  
nodded and started flying over to me. I noticed that Iggy was talking  
quickly and quietly with Fang, the latter bird kid scanning the land  
below. He said something to Iggy, probably that he didn't see  
anything, and Iggy shot back a heated reply. I focused back on Angel,  
gliding over to me on her beautiful, pure white wings. Angel and Fang  
were pretty much the only ones with only one color on their wings.  
Nudge had a lot of shades of brown, Ig a lot of pale whitish colors,  
Gaz a mix of muted browns and grays, and myself white, brown and  
tan. I took my attention off Angel's wings and onto her sweet, heart  
shaped face. Her long blonde waves of hair bounced along her  
shoulders, streaming back behind her from the air currents. When Ange  
finally made it over to me, I looked at her with mock severity. "Took your  
sweet time flying over, didn't ya?" I demanded. Angel giggled, and  
saluted, standing at attention in midair for a moment. "Anyway, Ange,  
the reason I called you over was that Iggy thinks he hears a factory  
below us."  
Angel frowned, looking down at the landscape below. "There's not a  
factory. It's all grass, just an empty plain."  
"Exactly. I want you to see if you pick up any thoughts there. If  
you don't, then Iggy's just paranoid as well as pyromaniacal."  
Angel giggled. "Yep, most likely that is the case." She grinned at  
me again before closing her eyes and concentrating, her wings rising  
and falling in an even beat. I waited patiently for her to report. Suddenly, Angel gave a small gasp, and  
plummeted, her wings compacting to her body as she fell.  
"Angel!" I yelled, diving after her, trying to catch the falling  
bird kid. She didn't respond, and I was even more worried. Nudging my  
super speed power gently, I tapped into it the teeniest bit, gaining  
just enough speed to fly below her and spread my arms to catch her a  
second before she fell into them. I grunted from her impact. Angel had  
gained quite a bit of speed in the forty feet she fell. Angel didn't  
even shift as I sank lower and lower to the ground below, unable to  
support both of our weights alone. Her breathing was short and ragged,  
and I worried even more. A second later, a dark shape swooped down  
next to us. Fang. Iggy was right behind him, floating nervously beside  
him. Fang took Angel's legs, and I held her under her arms to even out  
the weight so we could support her. That plan promptly failed as my  
eyes rolled up in my head and my wings folded around me in a cocoon of  
feathers, as I fell to the ground, my head exploding in pain.

I groaned, holding my head in my hands as I attempted to sit up.  
My head connected with someone's jaw, and I fell back into their arms  
again. It was Fang. He held me bridal style, sitting cross legged on  
the cement floor. Wait a second. Cement floor?  
He looked me on the eyes, and I saw the smallest hint of worry  
showing on his normally I-am-a-brick-wall expression. He murmured  
under his breath, "Max, don't ever do that again, or I'll disconnect your  
stupid head from your skinny, winged body."  
"Jeez, I thought you were going to act all worried and romantic,  
and instead I get death threats." I teased him. His cheeks took on a  
tiny rose tint for a moment, the equivalent of a normal person's full  
out embarrassment. I smiled and placed a kiss on his lips. After a few  
seconds of bliss, I broke away and looked around. Gazzy and Iggy  
plotted in the corner, and Nudge and Total frantically fanned an  
unconscious Angel. Something about this picture was uncomfortably  
familiar. What was it?  
"We got captured again." Fang informed me, all emotion hidden  
from his tone and expression. I sighed, shaking my head in disgust,  
before my head was shot through with lightning, and I winced and  
stopped moving. "Don't blame me though," Fang warned me. "You were curled in  
a ball, unconscious, and Angel was slung over Iggy's shoulder, also  
KOed. The only fighters we had were me, Nudge and Gaz against thirty  
weirdly strong M-Geeks. And flight was out of the question, since Iggy  
was occupied with Ange, and you were unable to fly too. I wouldn't be  
able to carry you alone for very long." I stared at him. "What?" he  
demanded. "It wasn't my fault!"  
"I know," I replied, gingerly lifting my head. "That was just a  
long report for you to say in one sitting." He scowled at me, and  
dumped me on the floor. "Hey!" I yelped, cradling my head as it died  
for the third time today. I heard him scramble over and gather me up  
in his arms again, but kept my eyes shut. This headache was far worse  
then any other I had ever experienced.

**(A/N Here is where I switched.)**

"Max?" I heard Fang ask. His voice sounded miles away. "Max, are you okay?"

_Do I look like I'm freaking okay? _I thought sarcastically, wincing in pain as another explosion erupted in my head. _Ouch, _I thought. Then, as suddenly as it began, the pain stopped. I opened one eye cautiously, then the other. I expected another wave of pain to crash down on my mind at any second. I slowly lowered my hands from my head and stepped out of Fang's arms, standing and stretching. Ooh, my wings were stiff. I flexed them a few times, feeling my joints creak and pop into place. Ah, that was better. With my pain subsided, I started to wonder why that had happened. _Hey Voice, are you going to answer a little question I have for you?_ It surprised me by answering. That was the second time in two weeks it had obeyed me! A new record.

_Hello Maximum, how are you feeling?_

_ Don't beat around the bush, Voice. Answer the question, or shut up. _I could have sworn I heard it sigh before it fell silent. For a minute I thought it wasn't going to answer after all, and was about to give up when it spoke again.

_Well, I was installing a new power. _That shocked me to the bone. I definitely was not expecting that.

"What the heck?" I yelled. Once again, the flock turned to stare at me. I had to stop doing that, it was creating too much déjà vu. "More Voice," I told them. They nodded and went back to their various activities. _Explain now._

_ Well you see, after you lost The Force, the people who gave it to you in the first place were rather annoyed. So, they decided they were going to try giving you other powers._

_ Like? _I thought impatiently. The Voice wasn't giving me enough information!

_Umm, airbending skills. _

_ What?_

_ Airbending skills. The entire flock has them._

_ Oh, Gazzy will be happy about that. _At least the flock gained something from my awful headache.

_Actually Max, I haven't given them their powers yet. They're going to have pain in their heads for a minute too, just not as bad as yours._

_ Why not as bad as mine? _I wanted to know. That wasn't fair!

_Because they're going to be regular airbenders. You are the Avatar._

"What the fnicking heck?" I yelled again. The flock stared again. _I'm going to warn them about the headaches._

_ Go ahead._

"Umm, guys?" I asked tentatively. They looked at me expectantly. "I have something to tell you."

"Iggy is blind? Really? I had no idea!" Gazzy gasped. I stared at him until he huffed. "I was just kidding."

"That wasn't funny. Like, at all. Now I have to tell you guys something really important. No more jokes Gaz." He grumbled under his breath for a moment, but it was just for show, I could tell. "The Voice is going to make us airbenders."

Silence. Then, inevitably, The Nudge Channel started its broadcast. "ZOMG Max we're going to be airbenders like that show Avatar The Last Airbender on that one channel where that bald kid with the blue arrow tattoos is all fnicking powerful and there's that cute little flying lemur and the huge flying bison and that tall guy with the boomerang and his sister who's a pretty waterbender? That is so cool that we're going to be airbenders everyone would be so jealous that is if we told them which we aren't going to of course-" Iggy strode over to where Nudge was sitting next to the newly revived Angel and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Thank you Iggy. Now, as I was saying. We are going to become airbenders, but it's really going to hurt your head for a few moments. And there's something else, too." The flock gazed at me, waiting while I tried to gather up the courage to tell them that again I had been singled out to be the special one in the group. "I'm the Avatar." Another dead silence fell over them as they soaked this in. I prayed that they wouldn't be angry. It wasn't my fault, after all.

"That's so cool!" Angel chirped. I smiled gratefully at her. She knew what I was thinking.

"Yeah, that is pretty awesome," Gazzy agreed with his sister.

"So you guys aren't mad?" I asked hesitantly. I definitely didn't want them banding together against me again.

"Why would we be mad? It's not your fault if you're the Avatar. After all, look what happened to Aang when his friends stayed away from him because he was the Avatar. He ran away and got trapped in an iceberg for a hundred years, while the fire nation was killing everyone." Iggy sat back after this outburst.

"You're an observant little bird kid, aren't you Ig?" I told him. He grinned modestly. "Anyway, thanks for that little tidbit of TV information that I'm sure I will need later in life."

"So when is this awful headache thing going to happen?" Fang asked finally. After a moment of listening for The Voice and hearing nothing, I shrugged.

'Could be anytime," I said nonchalantly. "And apparently it won't be as mind bogglingly painful as my headache, since I was becoming the Avatar and you guys are only going to be regular airbenders." Fang smirked at me.

"Ha ha!" Iggy sniggered, but I quickly silenced him with a slap to the back of his head. "Ow! That hurts Max!" he complained. Then, Fang and Iggy suddenly collapsed, quivering, on the floor, holding their heads and whimpering pitifully. Well, Iggy was whimpering pitifully. Fang lay on the floor with his hands clamped over his head, his face blank and pale, biting his lip to fight the pain his own way.

"Does that hurt more?" I asked snarkily. I love that word, snarkily. Is that even a word? It should be. After a moment, Iggy and Fang sat up, rubbing their foreheads and glaring at me. Well, at least _attempting _to glare at me. Their stares were weak and unfocused as they tried to gather their wits together.

"Okay, Max? I have a great respect for you if you endured that like five times when the Voice was setting up shop in your head, and another time just now," Iggy told me weakly, rubbing his sightless eyes with both hands. Fang nodded in agreement.

"I didn't know it would be that bad. And if that hurt less than what The Voice did to you, I'm not surprised you got knocked out." Fang stood up shakily, and held out a hand to pull Iggy up. As soon as they were standing, Nudge shrieked and fell down, holding her head. I guess The Voice was starting on her. Gazzy stared at Nudge for a moment before yelling something incoherent -that I bet was a swear word he had picked up from Iggy- and collapsed too. Angel looked worriedly at them, and turned to me.

"They're not thinking anything at all. I'm not picking up a single thought from either of them." Angel's big blue eyes were filled with unhappiness. "I feel helpless. I don't like it!" she yelled suddenly, slamming a clenched fist on the wall. I walked over swiftly to where she was taking her stress out on the cement wall, and grabbed both of her hands, making her look in my eyes.

"Angel Ride, don't let me catch you acting like that again, or I'll personally kick your butt from here to next Tuesday." She looked at me defiantly for a moment, then lowered her gaze.

"Sorry Max. I just got worked up for a moment there." She brightened. "But I hear their thoughts again. The Voice is done with them for the moment." Sure enough, as she spoke Nudge and Gazzy were picking themselves up off the ground, groaning and rubbing their heads.

"That was worse than the time I thought that gin was apple juice, drank the whole bottle and got a hangover," Nudge announced, lightly fingering her temples.

"Wow, that sentence was only twenty one words long! A new record," Iggy commented. We all stared at him strangely. He felt our eyes on him and bristled. "What?" he demanded.

"Since when do you count the number of words in Nudge's sentences?" Gazzy asked. Iggy shrugged.

"It's not like I actually listen to what she's saying. I get bored while I wait for her to finish, so I count the number of words she says," Iggy explained. Nudge's eyes flashed indignantly and she strode over and punched him hard in the shoulder. Iggy hadn't seen it coming (ha ha! Get it? The blind kid didn't see it coming? I should be on Saturday Night Live! Yeah, right.) and winced when Nudge hit him forcefully. "Ow!" he cried out, rubbing his shoulder. "I was joking, Nudge!" She wasn't grinning at all. Nudge didn't get seriously mad often, but when she did, it was an awful storm of anger that didn't let up easily. She lifted her left hand and spread her fingers wide, and pushed it at Iggy. A blast of air whooshed from her palm, colored light blue like in the TV show, and flew forward to slam into Iggy's chest, knocking him over backwards. Immediately, she grinned and squealed happily, jumping up and down.

"I did it! I airbended! That was so cool! ZOMG that was totally wicked and awesome and cool and awesome-" Gazzy was the one this time who shut Nudge up with a palm to the mouth. She pushed it away and grinned, squealing again.

"Obviously you are now playing the Let's-See-Who-Can-Rupture-Fang's-Eardrums-First game," Fang grumbled, holding his hands over his ears. Nudge shot a blast of blue air at him too, but he nimbly dodged it and sent a returning wind that pushed her hair straight back for a second. "Now that was cool," Fang commented, staring at his hand like it was some strange, foreign object.

"I wanna try!" Gazzy mock-whined, jumping up and down eagerly. He took a running start, jumped in the air and pulled his wings out to perform and aerial somersault, and as he landed, pushed both hands in front of him at his sister. Angel squeaked once before the wall of air hit her and knocked her over.

"Very dramatic, Gasser," I told him, stepping aside as he slapped high fives with Iggy.

"This means war!" Angel declared as she got back up. Gazzy cackled and jumped into the air. Angel followed him, pushing short blasts of air at him with both of her hands. That was the one nice thing about this particular cement prison box. It had a high ceiling, so we could actually fly. They fooled around up there for about ten minutes, before Iggy sat up and pushed his arms straight up, at the exact moment when Angel was flying above him, and her wings buckled. She fell, shrieking, down to where Iggy sat grinning smugly, but landed easily and quietly on the ground with the help of a small burst of air. Now it was Angel's turn to smirk.

"I have outwitted you!" she cried triumphantly. Gazzy swooped down and landed next to his sister.

"That was pretty cool!" he told her, and they slapped high fives while Iggy sat pouting like a toddler with his favorite toy taken away. Wow, that was a slightly odd analogy, wasn't it? If that's what they're even called? Sorry for all you grammar freaks out there, I am but a poor, uneducated bird kid, so I don't know all that lovely fluff. I just know the basics of writing, so I can record all of this stuff on paper.

"Wait a second!" Nudge yelled, and we all shut up for a moment. "Max hasn't tried her powers yet." Everyone turned to me, and I held my hands up in surrender.

"Okay, I'll try. But remember, in the TV show that bald kid-"

"Aang," Gazzy interjected.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Anyway, that Aang dude only had airbending in the beginning, and not the other three elements. So I might not have any other ones besides airbending. Understand?" They nodded impatiently. I was stalling for time, and they knew it. I wasn't comfortable at all with people messing around with my head so I could be the Avatar or whatever, and I wasn't looking forward to pleasing them with my abilities. I took a deep breath, and spread open my hands, palm up. I pushed them quickly towards the wall, and a huge wall of blue air whooshed from my palms to slam against the cement. That wasn't so shocking, now that we were used to the sight of it, but there was one cool thing that happened when I airbended. _The wall shook when I hit it._ Iggy gasped a second too late, and we knew that Angel had sent him a little mind movie of the past ten seconds, like she sometimes does to help him out. We stared at the wall, an escape plan hatching in all of our heads at once.

"If the wall shakes when just Max hits it-" Fang started slowly.

"Then if we all hit it at the same time, maybe it'll collapse!" Nudge finished, squealing again.

"Exactly. Now guys, line up facing the wall I hit." They obeyed, chattering excitedly. We all wanted to be out of captivity again. "On the count of three. One, two-" At two, we all hit the wall with the strongest wind we could manage. It always helps to be unpredictable, even when we're alone. The wall shuddered and buckled the tiniest bit, but held. "Again! One, two-" We sent out the same powerful winds, all of them rushing to hit the wall with supreme force. Again, the wall shivered, and a chunk of cement broke off and fell from the top of the wall. "One last time! Gaz and Ig aim for the top, Nudge and Fang aim for the middle, and Angel and I will aim for the bottom. One, two!" The air escaped from our hands again, a blur of blue starting at us and ending on the assigned points of the wall. This time, the wall creaked, and the entire top half broke off. We cheered crazily for a second, loving our airbending. Then, about forty different alarms blared noisily, and we stopped cheering. The wall had only broke off at about eight feet up, but that was no problem for us. We just unfolded our wings and jumped, using a burst of blue air to give ourselves an extra boost. Soon we were sailing over the jagged remains of the wall and up into the air. We wheeled around above the School for a few minutes, curious to see why we hadn't noticed it was there before. An unbelievable sight met our eyes. The School simply wasn't there. The only part we could see was the broken part of the cement wall and the shimmer of heated air appearing about thirty feet in the air, which we guessed came from a chimney of some sort. We all gawped at what we saw, or rather, didn't see. Gazzy whispered what was there to Iggy, who broke our astonished silence.

"I knew it! I knew I wasn't crazy! See, there is a building down here! It just isn't a factory. I knew I heard something, but nooo, you guys didn't believe delusional old Iggy. I-" Nudge clapped a hand over Iggy's mouth, and smirked.

"Payback!" she sang happily, before Iggy swatted her hand away. In the midst of our giggling at the expression on Iggy's face, I realized that about twenty scientists were gathering beneath us.

"Umm, guys?" I broke in. They looked at me, still smiling. "There's a ton of scientists below us, so we should vamoose now." They nodded, and we started beating our wings faster, flying higher in the air. That was when a hail of tranquilizer darts came up from below us. "Quickly!" I yelled, but I was too late. There were three tranquilizers stuck in Gazzy's arm, leg and wing, and Nudge was passing out too from four stuck all in her wings. We were too easy of targets for the scientists, with our huge wingspans. Iggy grabbed Gazzy out of the air as he KOed, and Fang swooped down to pluck Nudge out of her free fall. Angel circled nervously behind me, as if that would keep her safe. Apparently, it didn't, because after a moment, I heard her sigh, and turned just in time to see her eyes flutter shut. Quickly, I sped over and grabbed her under her arms, the feathers from her wings sticking up in my face. I repositioned her so I could still support her, and see what was happening. What was happening was not good. Iggy grunted as seven tranquilizers pierced his wings and arms. His grip on Gazzy loosened, and the two bird kids were soon spiraling down through the air, their wings still spread out and keeping them aloft. I glanced over at Fang, panicking. I had an unconscious Angel, he had an unconscious Nudge, and our other two unconscious flock members were currently falling through the air. I made a snap decision, and dove towards Iggy and Gazzy. I held Angel in the space between my arm and my torso, and gripped Gaz and Iggy's wrists. I heard Fang fly up behind me, and I transferred Angel to his free hand. We circled in the air for a moment, wondering what to do, while we sank lower and lower with the weight of the flock. That decision was made for us as Fang's eyes rolled up in his head, and he too was injected with the liquids in eight tranquilizers. I grunted with the weight as I shifted Gazzy to Angel's previous position and swooped down to catch Fang's wrist in my free hand. Miraculously, he was still tightly clutching Angel and Nudge's wrists, so I didn't have to worry about them. Now the weight of my KOed flock was far too much for a single bird kid to hold, and I knew it, so I concentrated on making a smooth landing as we dropped faster and faster to the ground. Iggy, Gazzy and Fang still had their wings outspread, so that gave me more control as we landed. I stumbled, dropping Fang and Iggy's hands and setting Gazzy down gently next to his sister on the gravel of the walkway. Now that we were down in the School, it wasn't invisible anymore. I didn't have time to wonder why though, because the twenty scientists with tranquilizer guns were slowly advancing on me, probably enjoying the drama of this moment. I heard the younger kids groan as they slowly came to, but they were still out of it enough that they wouldn't be any use in a fight, and couldn't support themselves for flight. It was up to me to single handedly save our butts. Again.

I clenched my fists. These scientists were just wimps, but they were wimps with access to tranquilizer guns and back up from their fellow nasties, which I didn't have. Iggy grunted once, and mumbled, "Crepes," as his eyes fought their way open. He still couldn't move though, and I guessed that he was still knocked out. Nudge had gained enough strength to sit up by now, and tried to lift Fang off her arm, which he had conked out on. That boy was as heavy as a dump truck full of bricks sometimes, and Nudge wasn't having much success in her endeavors. She whispered something to me though, before she fell back. Her eyes were still open, so I knew she was awake. Her body just couldn't deal with the stress of sitting up yet.

"Max," she whispered hoarsely to me. I cocked my head in her direction, but still kept my eyes on the scientists. "You're the Avatar." Her head fell back again, but got propped up against Gazzy's narrow ribcage, so she could still look at me. Her words clicked in my head for a moment. I was the Avatar now, supposedly a really powerful person. Maybe I could just beat up these people! I took another deep breath, filling up my lungs and my air sacs at once. My mind flitted for a moment over what these scientists had done to my flock, and rooted there, frozen. They took us prisoner while two of us were unconscious, stuffed us in a cement cell, then tranquilized all of us except me, and were now trying to act cool while they were coming to re-capture us! That was unacceptable, and I started to get mad. Really mad. Mind blowing anger filled my head, and I couldn't see anything but a bright blue filling my vision. Vaguely, I felt my arms move, and power tugged at my body. I was the power, and I would teach these scientists what happens when you mess with Maximum Ride!

I still saw only the blue, and knew of nothing but the blue. I was the blue, I was the power, I was nothing else. After an eternity of becoming the blue and the power, I felt my physical body tug on me. It wanted to rest, but I didn't. I felt too powerful, too much the blue, to stop. My body was insistent though, and finally I succumbed to it. My eyesight returned, too bright for a moment, before fading back to my normal perspective. I was in the air, but my wings were tucked in, folded on my back. I was just standing normally, floating in the air. I felt intensely tired now, and I slowly dropped back to the ground. I vaguely saw the destruction around me, a mess of burned buildings, flooded hallways, knocked over objects and trees, and jagged spears of earth rising up in the air. As soon as my feet touched the ground and I was given my own weight to carry, my knees promptly buckled, and I face-planted onto the earth. Ow. The pain disappeared as my vision faded again, turning gray, purple, then black.

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was a small, furry black face leaning over me. Total. He licked my nose, and turned to talk to someone behind me. "She's awake!" There was a loud scuffling noise from behind me, and I tried to get up, resting my weight on my elbows.

"What happened?" I felt refreshed after the little nap I took. Nudge looked at me excitedly, and started talking.

"ZOMG Max that was so cool cause when I reminded you that you were the Avatar, you nodded and after a second your eyes turned blue like Aang's do in the TV show except you don't have any tattoos so they didn't glow blue also but then after your eyes turned blue you turned to face the scientists and this huge whirlwind just came out of nowhere and surrounded you and it lifted you really high in the air and you waved your arms around and all this water burst out of the pipes and sprayed the scientists down and then you picked them up with a gust of air and threw them into the cell where we were and after you finished dealing with them all this fire appeared on your palms and you threw it at all the buildings and they all caught on fire and then you lifted all those pillars of earth out of the ground and they speared a ton of other buildings and equipment, and then more fire burned a ton of stuff, and then you pounded all this other stuff with air and water and then the blue light stuff in your eyes flickered and your eyes turned brown again and the column of air you were floating in kind of slowly dissipated and you fell down to the ground and passed out. I was the only one awake to see it, but Angel took the memory out of my mind and showed it in a video to the other guys!" Nudge finished, jumping up and down happily. I sat and stared at her, trying to process her outburst.

"I didn't kill anyone, right?" I asked. She shook her head, and a wave of relief washed over in my gut. I don't like killing people. "Where's the rest of the guys?"

"They went out to go find some food in the ruins of those buildings and left me and Total here for when you woke up." Nudge helped me stand up, then bounced over to the window.

"Wait a second, where exactly are we?" I asked confusedly. For the first time I realized I wasn't lying on the ground before, but on a small cot that my legs hung off the end of. I walked over to the window.

"When you entered the Avatar state thingy you lifted us all up with a gust of air and plopped us in this building, to keep us safe, I guess. It was the only office you didn't destroy," Nudge explained. I nodded, sinking it all in.

"Ah, I see. Total, where were you while all of this was happening? I don't even remember you being there when I woke up in the cell!" He looked solemnly at me for a moment.

"They were experimenting on me," he whispered sadly.

"Oh," I said stupidly. _Oops, wrong question, _I thought.

_Hey, Maximum?_

Oh great, so The Voice was choosing this time to butt in. _Yes Voice?_ I thought too sweetly.

_My bosses said-_

_ Wait, you have bosses?_

_ Yeah, duh. Where do you think I get all of my orders from? As I was saying, the bosses told me that you were too destructive being the Avatar, and they want me to uninstall that power and give you a new one._

_ Spiffy. The flock gets to keep their powers though, don't they?_

_ No. They were designed to follow you, so their airbending powers are being disconnected. However, when you receive your next power, they'll get a new one too._

_ Oh, okay. Maybe Gazzy will be fine with losing his airbending if he gets something cool in return._

_ Yes. Anyway, I'm taking away your new powers right now, and I'll give you the new new ones soon._

_ Soon? Like, soon as in twenty minutes , or soon as in a few days._

_ That is authorized information._

_ Grrr. _I stopped conversing with The Voice and tuned back in to reality. Total was standing on the broad windowsill, and Nudge stood beside him, talking quietly. I walked over to them and looked out the window. "The Voice just told me something, but I'm going to wait until the others get back before I tell you guys, okay?" Nudge and Total nodded, and we fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Then Nudge spotted Gazzy and Angel running towards us with big bags of what I hoped was food.Fang and Iggy turned the corner after them, strolling leisurely along as they lugged their bags. "FOOD!" Nudge squealed, jumping up and down as they entered our little office building.

"Where'd you get this stuff guys?" I asked them, appraising the contents of the bags. Subway foot longs, bags of chips, and bottled drinks were inside them, along with those irritating little nuisances called napkins.

"It was the scientists' lunches. We found it in the ruins of their little lounge thingy," Gazzy reported, eagerly unwrapping a foot long. "Mmm, soo good." He took another bite, relishing the taste. My stomach rumbled, and I grabbed a sandwich to appease it. For awhile we just sat inhaling the sandwiches, about three or four each. I never knew a deli sandwich could taste so good. While we were stuffing ourselves with chips, Angel turned to me.

"Hey Max, all of the scientists are gone," she informed me casually, crunching down on a Dorito. I sat up, putting my chips to the side.

"What? Where'd they go?" I asked her. She shrugged, stuffing another chip in her mouth.

Total ambled over to me, licking mustard off his lips before he spoke. "When I was in the cage in the lab, I saw a ton of scientists panicking and packing up all of their stuff. Of course, they didn't bother doing anything about me. They packed up their original experiments and ran. One of them muttered something about not wanting the creepy elements girl coming after them because of one measly experiment." He stopped talking and huffed for a second. "I am not measly, I am a work of art!"

"Yeah yeah, save it for Akila." Fang muttered, throwing a balled up wrapper at Total. He yelped indignantly before scurrying into the safety of Angel's lap. She giggled and smoothed the fur on his head and a few awry wing feathers. After we finished eating, I sat up straighter and coughed. Everyone kept eating.

"Ahem," I tried. No reaction from the oblivious bird kids gorging on Subway. "AHEM!" I yelled. They stopped and turned. "Thank you. Now, what I was going to say. This is rather important, so again, I'd appreciate no sarcastic jokes, Gazzy and Iggy." They whined for a second, but I glared at them and they shut up. Ah, the wonders of death stares. "So anyway, the Voice informed me that we aren't going to be airbenders anymore, and I'm not going to be the Avatar." A roar of disapproval met this statement.

"What? That's not fair!"

"But I wanna be an airbender!"

"Why are they taking it away?"

"We only got our powers for like, a few hours!"

"Aww man."

"That is so stupid!"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled again. Silence. "They're taking away our powers because we were too destructive with them. Never fear though, cause it also told me that we're going to get new powers."

"Cool!"

"Do we get the Force? Like you did before?"

"What powers do we get?"

"I wanna be able to breathe underwater like you and Fang and Angel!"

"When do we get them? Will it hurt again?"

"SHUT UP OR I'LL SHUT YOU UP MYSELF!" I roared. Once more there was silence. "I don't know what powers we get, I don't think we're going to get the Force, I don't think you're going to get to breathe underwater Gazzy because they're basing your powers off of mine, the Voice was very vague about when he's giving us our powers, and I don't know if it will hurt." I stopped for breath, panting from my outburst. "Jeez Nudge, how do you do that all the time? It's really tiring!"

She beamed. "It's a gift."

"Three, not counting the connected 'is' in 'it's'," Iggy murmured. Nudge punched him again. "Ow!" he complained. "Why are you such a Mini Max Nudge?"

"Max rocks, that's why," she retorted. I grinned. I love my flock.

"Kay guys, we're going to get moving now. I don't want to stay here in case any other nasty scientist baddies come." We all rose, groaning as we stretched our stiff muscles. We all ran out the door and shot into the air, rising higher as we all flew up and away from that School. Looking down again, I shivered. The School was invisible again. All I could see were the jagged pillars of earth that I had earthbended while in the Avatar state.

"Hey Max?" Nudge asked me, swooping down to fly just above me so we could talk.

"Yeah Nudge? What is it?"

"Why was that School invisible? It was kind of creepy." Nudge shuddered, and I nodded in agreement. Angel heard us talking and glided over to fly a few feet away from us and join in on the conversation, Total right on her tail.

\ "I heard some scientists thinking about it while we were down there," she informed us, pushing a strand of windblown hair out of her face. "Apparently the whole place is coated in invisibility paint."

"Yeah, I heard the scientists saying that in the lab, too," Total chimed in.

"Oh, that's weird," Nudge commented. She looked ahead, and scowled. "Iggy stole my make up bag again," she groaned. "I don't need another mascara bomb!" She pushed her wings harder and rushed Iggy from behind, pulling her bag away. I glanced over at Angel again, who was starting to fly away again.

"Hey Ange?" I called. She turned and flew back to me.

"Yes Max?" she asked sweetly. I loved this kid.

"Did you happen to hear where they got the invisibility paint?" I questioned her. She thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I heard it too," Total told me, beating his little wings quickly, trying to keep up with us. "Something like Warthogs?"

"No, it was Hartwogs," Angel argued.

"Nah, I think it was actually Wogharts," Total insisted. Angel shook her head.

"That's not it, It was something like-" she trailed off. "Umm…" Angel and Total dug through their memories, trying to remember what they'd heard. I was starting to come up with an idea of what they were thinking of, but it was so silly I didn't want to ask. "I can't remember," Angel announced finally. Total nodded.

"I got nothing," he agreed. I debated whether to ask them or not, and Angel snooped in my thoughts.

"What are you thinking of Max? Even if it's silly it might help us remember," she said reasonably.

"I was thinking that maybe you heard Hogwarts?" I asked tentatively.

"That's it!" Angel and Total shouted. I was frankly kind of surprised that I was right.

"They got their invisibility paint from a fictional school of magic?" I asked. Angel nodded. "Well that's a new low for them. What happened to science?"

"I dunno, I guess magic works better. Anyway, they got the paint from Hogwarts. An old guy gave it to them. His name was really weird. It was something like Atlas Chumblesnore," Total said.

"Albus Dumbledore?" I asked.

"Yeah, that was it," he confirmed.

"Okay then, that was all I needed to know guys. Thanks," I told them. They nodded and flew off to join Gazzy off to the side, where he was experimenting with different aerial techniques. I flew up to where Fang was, simultaneously counting heads. Everyone was here. "Hey Fang?" I asked softly. He turned to look at me. "Angel and Total just told me something really weird." I updated him on the invisibility paint, and he took it all in, no expression on his face. Finally he spoke.

"That's weird."

"I know, right? So what should we do about it?" I asked him. He thought for a moment, the wind tossing his long hair around his face.

"We have nothing better to do, why don't we go try to find Hogwarts?" he suggested. I stared at him in shock. "What?"

"Hogwarts doesn't exist," I reminded him.

"How do you know?" he countered. "It could, and we just don't know."

"You're impossible."

"Why thank you." Fang grinned at me, dazzling me for a second. I smiled back, flying in closer so our wings brushed against each other.

"If we're going to go uncover a fictional magic boarding school, I think we're going to need some information. Let's fly down and find a store where we can buy all of the books." Fang nodded in silent agreement, and we flew on.

**I don't really like that ending. Oh well, maybe I'll fix it later. Just telling you, this chapter ended up being quite a bit longer, because during the transfer from one hard drive to another, the last three paragraphs were deleted, and I had to rewrite them. The new version is a lot longer, and the ending turned out different. =D**

**Nudge: Just post the dang chapter. They've waited long enough!**

**Yeah, I know. So I hope you enjoy it! Reviews are sooo appreciated! **

**~TMI~**


	5. The Flock reads HP and locates Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lady GaGa, Harry Potter, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or Butterfingers. I wish I had a butterfinger right now though… **salivates** I need to add more! I don't own, Dr Pepper, Fanta, Sprite, or Daniel Radcliffe. That's how you spell his name, right?**

**Dedicated to my awesomesauce reviewers: Call Me Bitter, The Seagull, and Dark Skitty Power! I love you silent readers too, but to be truthful, these three reviewers are my favorites! XD**

Max's POV (as always)

We shuffled into the book shop, one after another, our windblown hair scattered across our heads and our dirty, ripped clothes wrinkled and cold to the touch. Let me just say, it's no fun to fly through clouds on an early November morning. Fang had decided to stay outside with Iggy, so it was Nudge, Angel , Gazzy and I on our own, questing for a series of books that might help us figure out a huge question in our lives. Pathetic.

I'm pretty sure that the clerk, a young redheaded lady (grr… I was glad that Fang had stayed outside) was suspicious of us the moment we stepped across the threshold. I walked up to her and leaned on the counter. "Hey, excuse me?" I asked her politely. See? I can be nice when I want to! "I was wondering if you have six copies of the Harry Potter series in here right now?"

"Do you have money to pay for it?" she sneered in my face. Ooh, that was it. I had tried to be nice and friendly, but she shot me down right away. This girl was going down.

"Yeppers," I growled at her. I pulled my wallet out of my jacket pocket and thumped it on the counter. It was full almost to the bursting with twenty, ten, five, and one dollar bills. Thank you, never ending Max ATM card. "And no _darling_, none of it is counterfeit. How much do six sets of those Harry Potters cost?" I tried to regain my professional air, but I couldn't gather it together, so I just went into my natural Max mode. Which means gruff, hungry and commanding.

"Well _doll, _I'm not sure I can sell you those." She leaned across the counter, wrinkling her snub nose in disgust at my B.O. Yeah, I hadn't showered in four or five days, what was her problem?

"Why not?" I ground out. She was getting on my nerves…

"We don't support selling to beggars," she spat at me. I looked at her, unfazed.

"Excuse me? We're not beggars. We are rich!" I proclaimed. Angel, Gazzy and Nudge nodded vigorously. "I am the amazing Lady GaGa!" I fibbed quickly. The girl stared at me.

"Oh really then? Prove it," she hissed threateningly. I glanced at Gazzy, who nodded and bent to 'tie his shoe'. I opened my mouth and lip-synched as Gazzy mimicked Lady GaGa's voice in 'Alejandro'.

"_Don't call my name! Don't call my name! Alejandro…_

_ I'm not your babe, I'm not your babe, Fernando…_

_ Ale-Alejandro, Ale-Alejandaro, o-oh!" _I signaled to Gazzy to stop, and he closed his mouth. I did the same, and smirked at the expression on the clerk's face.

"OMG LADY GAGA I HAVE ALL OF YOUR CDS I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS ACTUALLY YOU! ARE YOU GOING INCOGNITO OR SOMETHING RIGHT NOW? OMG MY FRIENDS WILL BE SO JEALOUS CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?" the girl squealed in one breath. I stared at her.

"I'm so sorry, I can't give you an autograph since I'm going incognito right now. And you can't tell anyone you saw me, okay?" I told her, suppressing giggles. Angel and Nudge were quietly high-fiving Gaz, so I didn't glance at them. She deflated at my words, but still looked unreasonably perky.

"Of course, I understand. It must be hard to be famous, am I right?" the girl simpered. I mentally shuddered in repulsion. I almost liked her better when she was yelling at me.

"Yes yes, it is…" I purred back. "Now, about those books…"

"Of course, Lady GaGa! Right away ma'm…" The girl hurried into the backroom, her face aglow with joy.

"Nice work Gasman," I murmured to him, tapping the counter with my short, dirty nails. He grinned triumphantly. "That earns you six Butterfingers." He grinned even wider at the promise of candy. Soon the clerk came back in, lugging a large box of books. Her face was pink with exertion, and I almost scoffed at her weakness before remembering that I was Lady GaGa. She plopped the box on the counter with a thunk, and started ringing up the purchase on the cash register.

"That is forty-two books for you, Ms. GaGa. Enjoy your reading!" she beamed at me as I handed her a wad of cash. Angel stood on her tip-toes to whisper in my ear.

"Max, forty-two is the answer to life!"

"Yep it is, Ange." I grinned, remembering the one book I had ever read. It was called the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and was completely awesome. That was where the forty-two reference came from. I took this as a good omen for our mission.

We walked out the door, me cradling the box of books. I was happy to say that the box felt about as light as a laptop computer, and laughed at the clerk's struggle to carry it. When Gazzy, Nudge, Angel and I reentered the outside world, we encountered a very strange sight.

A girl with red hair was dressed in practically invisible shorts, a tank top and flip-flops on a foggy November morning was trying her best to stick her chest up Fang's nose, while her friend, a lassie with blonde hair and blue eyes, was trying to reach Iggy's height by standing on tiptoe in her platform sandals. She was still about five inches too short. Both of my fellow bird kids looked really uncomfortable, and I set down the box of Harry Potter books. I ignored Gazzy's and Angel's smothered giggles, stepping forward to rescue Fang and Iggy. "Hey Nicky, who is that girl?" I gasped, pretending to be shocked. Fang gazed at me over the girl's head, his expression solemn and patronizing, a hint of fear way back in his eyes.

"I have no freaking idea," he replied, his voice as deep and smooth as 98% dark chocolate. The redheaded girl almost shivered in delight, and I had a hard time not copying her. "She's harassing me Lucy!" he added reproachfully.

I guessed that my new name was Lucy. "Poor Nicky! Do you want me to make her go away?" I offered, a hint of threat lacing my tone as I looked over her into Fang's eyes. She glared at me, but her glare was weak and pathetic compared to my special Max Glare. She cowered under my wrath, and stepped away from _my _hot boyfriend. "Thank you for leaving before I break your neck," I told her quietly. She scampered, leaving her friend standing in front of Iggy. "Must I repeat my warning?" I asked the blondie. She shook her head and followed the redheaded girlie. Gazzy, Nudge, Angel and I burst out laughing at the relieved looks on Fang's and Iggy's faces.

"Poor Nicky!" Gazzy mimicked me. "Oh no Lucy, she's harassing me!"

"Stop- Gazzy, before I- die laughing!" Nudge protested feebly, clutching her stomach. Suddenly, we all overcame our attacks of the giggles. I straightened up, adjusted the waistband of my jeans, and picked up my box of books again. Walking briskly away, I called back to my flock.

"Well come on guys! We have to get checked into a hotel so we can read these books in peace!" They cheered at the prospect of hot showers and soft beds for a few nights, and we ran off to find a suitable place.

…..****…..&7&7&7

"Wait a second, you impersonated Lady GaGa?" Iggy asked me again, his voice incredulous. I nodded. "Isn't that against the law or something?"

"I dunno. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Anyway, we've broken so many laws just by existing that I don't think it matters anymore," I reasoned, reclining back into the fluffy pillows of the hotel bed. "Now be quiet, Harry is about to set a giant snake on his cousin." Those Harry Potter books were already surprisingly good, even though I had just started the first one. Nudge was sitting next to me, her head propped on her hands as she read quickly through the third chapter. Gazzy was reading aloud to Angel and Iggy, and Fang was curled up in the corner chair. Total was sitting in Angel's lap, listening to Gazzy read also. We had checked into a certain hotel called the Hotel Vemena. The Vemena was pretty nice and very cheap, plus there was a continental breakfast every morning until ten, so we decided to stay here.

We sat quietly reading for about another hour, the silence broken only by Gazzy's quiet reading, and our own breathing. It was pretty interesting to listen to Gazzy reading, because every time a character spoke, he would mimic the voice of the actor that had played him. Consequently, Nudge, Fang and I had to keep looking up every thirty seconds to make sure Daniel Radcliffe hadn't invaded the hotel room with his magic wand. Eventually we gave up trying to concentrate on our own books and just listened to Gazzy reading aloud. By the sixth chapter, we were all extremely hungry, so we ditched the book for awhile. Right before we were about to leave the room, I spotted the phone and a menu.

"Room service!" I yelled, clearing two beds in one leap to get to the phone before Gaz did. We flipped through the menu, looking through for things we wanted. Fang wrote down our orders on a pad of paper sitting on the nightstand, and I dialed the phone number. The flock stared at me expectantly as the dial tone sounded.

"Hello, this is room service, how may I help you?" A bored sounding guy answered the phone.

"Yo. I want to order thirteen steak and fries platters, medium rare on the steaks, six large sodas, four Dr Peppers, one orange Fanta, and one Sprite, one large lemonade, and for dessert seven chocolate volcanoes. I can pay with twenties, right?"

There was a silence on the other end.

"Umm, hello? Excuse me, is there anybody there?" I asked worriedly. Was the room service dude taken out by Erasers? Would we never get our food? The flock stiffened, staring at the phone.

"I'm still here." The guy's voice sounded in my ear. I sighed in relief, and the flock relaxed. "You do know that the steak and fries platters are pretty big, right?"

"Umm, yeah. We are really hungry! There are seven of us here, man!" I explained. He didn't seem convinced, oddly enough.

"That will cost you $190.50. Are you sure you want to spend that much on food?" He asked again.

"Yes I'm sure. Thank you. Buh-bye." I hung up on him. Jeez, it's so annoying when people don't understand that we bird kids need that much food. Even if they don't know we _are _bird kids. "Okay guys, they're making our food. Gazzy, continue reading." We got comfortable on the three beds and comfy chairs, with Gazzy perched on the table reading. We were just at the part where Harry pwns at Quidditch when there's a knock on the door. I felt considerate, and instead of yelling at Iggy to answer the door, I got up myself. When I opened the heavy hotel-room door, a guy in his twenties with a large pimple on his cheek was standing there. I got really distracted by the pimple, because none of the flock ever gets them. It's like the scientists programmed us with naturally exfoliated skin. "Hmm?" I grunted, staring at the pimple. The dude flushed when he realized where my gaze was directed.

"I'm here to confirm an order for room service costing $190.50?" His voice rose at the end of his statement, making it sound like a question.

"Yeah, I ordered room service, and the guy on the phone said it cost that much," I agreed. The pimple moved slightly as the guy talked. It was so weird!

"I have to check your bills to make sure they aren't counterfeit," He stuttered, apparently intimidated by my awesomeness. His eyes widened considerably as he looked over my shoulder. I turned around and almost rammed my nose into the rock Fang calls his chest.

"Hi Fnick," I muttered. "Fancy meeting you here!" He grinned at me quickly before scowling at the dude and his pimple. I turned back to them. "You were saying?"

"Umm, nev-nev-nevermind!" He rushed away down the hall, speeding around a corner. I craned my neck to look after him, but he was gone.

"Dang, that guy is fast," I remarked. I poked Fang sternly on his rock- I mean chest. "No more intimidating people, Fang! That wasn't nice!"

"But it's so fun!" He whined, playing along for a moment. His face broke out in a real, secretive smile. "Did you see his pimple?" Fang snickered.

"Yeah! Thank the lord the scientists programmed us with clear skin," I replied, turning and walking back into the room. The flock had kept reading while Fang and I were dealing with Master Pimple, and stopped to bring us up to speed.

"ZOMG it was so cool like Harry was all WHOOSH and he caught the snitch so quickly I was like OOH and Angel was like AH and Total was like HOT TAMALE and it was so cool!" Nudge babbled. I stared at her.

"Harry caught the snitch?" Fang summarized shortly. I grinned at him.

"Thank you, Oh Bird Kid of Few Words," I teased. "Keep reading, Gaz." We listened to Gazzy read for a long time, waiting for the room service to arrive. Harry had just caught the winged key and opened the door with it when the room service food arrived. The flock whooped excitedly. We were starving! Opening the door wide, we all shuffled aside to let the big metal cart wheel in. I paid the guy while Fang divided up the food. Once I had sent the room service dude on his way, we all dug in. The food was great! Mmmm… So good…

"So, what do you think, Igs?" I asked him, halfway through my chocolate volcano. No one had spoken while we were first eating, but as we slowed down, conversation developed again. "Do you think you could top that steak?"

He snorted. "Of course I could! I would have used more garlic than those stingy cooks did, and probably a dash of rosemary. Also, did you notice that they gave me well done steak instead of medium rare? That, my friend, is very poor class." Iggy spooned yet another dollop of fudge and ice cream into his mouth. I swear, I don't know where he puts all the food he eats.

After we finished eating, we resumed our reading. It was surprisingly peaceful in the small hotel room. Around ten, Angel dropped off, and Gazzy stopped reading suddenly. We were confused about his abrupt halt until we realized he had started drooling on the pages. They had had a full day today, and I wasn't surprised. "Lights out, flock. There's no use reading if we just have to backtrack for Angel and Gaz tomorrow." I yawned slightly. "G'night." We stacked fists, placing Angel's and Gazzy's on the top, then dropped off to sleep.

**********Monday two weeks later**********

It had taken us a whole two weeks to read seven fnicking books.

I guess that was a pretty good speed for seven uneducated mutants. But still, every day we stayed in the hotel, the staff got more suspicious of us. "Are you sure you want that much food?" They always asked us, even though when they came to pick the plates up they were always wiped clean.

"Yes, we're sure," we always told them, sometimes politely, other times not so politely. "We're all big eaters."

"Even the little one?" They would ask again dubiously, pointing at Angel, who smiled at the staff sweetly.

"Even the little one," I would confirm, losing patience. Finally, one day I decided that I had had enough of the Vemena's staff's impudence towards us paying guests. "Alright flock, let's move out." They all groaned except for Fang, who smiled. No one wanted to leave the convenience of a hot shower any time we felt like it, room service, and a soft bed. Of course, Fang was my trusty right-wing man, and didn't complain even at the departure of all of these little conveniences.

The hotel staff smiled as we left the building, which I thought was extremely rude.

"Okay guys! Now that we've done our research, we just have to go find Hogwarts," I told them. Iggy frowned.

"And how exactly are we supposed to find a fictional school of magic again?" he asked dubiously. "I doubt it's in the phonebook." Gazzy cleared his throat, and we all turned to him.

"Umm, actually, it _was _in the phonebook." Was I hearing Gaz correctly?

"Wait a sec, so Hogwarts was in the phonebook? How the fnick did you find that out Gazzy I mean seriously that's slightly weird why hasn't anyone found it before?" Nudge asked him, speaking in her normal rambling sentences.

"I'm not sure. It was listed in there, though." Gazzy frowned, as if trying to remember something. "I don't even remember looking in the phonebook," he said slowly. "That's weird." That was really weird. _Voice? Come out, come out, wherever you are! Max has a question for you!_

_**Don't speak in the third person, Maximum.**_

_Hi there. What's up with Gazzy not remembering looking in the phonebook?_

_**Umm, my boss kind of put the information to lead you to Hogwarts in his head.**_

_What? Why? _

_**Because **__**you **__**have to go there, Maximum. They are trying another tactic on improving you.**_

_I don't need any improvement! I'm fine the way I am! Just ask Fang!_

_**I'm sure that Fang's opinion is more than slightly in your favor. And it's not my opinion either, it's the boss's. Now go to Hogwarts, Maximum.**_

_Voice! I'm not done with you! Get back here-_

But the connection was broken. I felt it as clearly as if the Voice had walked away. The flock stared at me, and I realized I had been standing there silently for quite awhile. "Sorry, I had a Voice interlude." They nodded. "It said that I have to go to Hogwarts, so whatever. Where to, Gasman?"

"Hogwarts is located in **CENSORED** **CENSORED CENSORED**," Gazzy directed, as we took off, flapping off into the cool night air.

"Okay then, let's go! The fictional school of magic has been located!" I yelled into the night. The flock cheered as we flew over a cloud and off towards Hogwarts.

**VOILA! Okay then, it's finally finished. I'm sorry for the infrequent updates, but this story requires long chapters, and time is something I don't have very much of right now, what with homework and music and soccer and sleep and food. And reading. Reading is very important.**

**Gasman: Especially if you're reading about us.**

**True. Speaking of which, I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL ****ANGEL ****COMES OUT NEXT SPRING! REVIEW AND TELL ME IF YOU ARE TOO! Scratch that. Review anyway, and if you want to, tell me your views on the future book too.**

**Nudge: I heard that Fang comes back! Yay I'm so happy!**

**Me too, because Fang coming back equals FAX! Peace out now,**

**~TMI~**


	6. The Sleeping Spell and Harry vs Fang

**Okay, do you guys hate this story or something? I mean, every now and then I'll get a Favorite Story or Story Alert for it, but the only reviews I ever get are from my friends and Call Me Bitter (I love you in a non-creepy way CMB! XD)! And everyone knows that authors thrive on reviews…**

**Disclaimer: I am of the female gender, which I think clears things up about my non-ownership of MR.**

**Max's POV**

We had been flying over England for awhile now, and my feathers were beaded with condensation from the fogbank we were flying through. "Stupid, cold, wet, English air. I miss America," Iggy muttered, blindly forging ahead with a powerful thrust of his wings. Ha ha! Get it? Iggy was _blindly _forging ahead?

You know what? Forget it. Lack of sleep is getting to me.

"Max," Nudge gasped, catching up to me with a few frantic wingbeats. "Can we please- stop for just- a second?" she managed to get out of her tired lungs. I smiled at her, happy for an excuse to land. I myself was insanely tired too, but I wasn't willing to own that I was until Fang or Iggy did.

"Of course we can Nudge. Flock, down! Head down to the right and there's a tree grove Igs. We'll rest there," I directed, angling my wings so I was soon swooping down to the highest boughs of a tall pine tree.

"This is a prickly perch," Fang commented quietly as he settled in among a few wet branches of pine needles. I didn't answer, since I was busy trying to find a position where I wouldn't be smacked in the face with a bunch of pine-fresh needles. "Shall we have a tea party while we recuperate?"

I see I wasn't the only one suffering from lack of sleep.

"Don't make jokes when you're exhausted, Fang," I advised him. "They will never fail to suck."

"Thank you for your support Max," he replied, helping Angel find a better perch than the wet branch she was sitting on.

"You're welcome. Kay guys, according to Gazzy's directions, the school should be just the tiniest bit north of here. But first, let's get out of this tree." I hadn't succeeded in not getting punched in the face with bunches of wet pine needles, and was getting slightly annoyed at the tree. "It's bugging me, and I have an overwhelming urge to punch something."

Everyone immediately moved away from me. Suddenly, Iggy shifted too far to the left and fell completely off of his branch. "AAHHH!" he yelled, free-falling through the open air. He kept hitting boughs of more wet pine needles, but they just snapped as he passed.

"Use your wings you idiot! You have wings!" I screamed at him, getting kind of scared. Fang had leaped off his branch and was hurtling down towards Iggy, his jet black wings tucked in tightly so they wouldn't get caught on any branches. Luckily, Iggy had cleared most awry boughs out of Fang's path when he trailblazed the way to the ground with wings folded in. "WINGS, IGGY!" I shrieked, starting to freak out. I jumped off my branch, shooting down quickly, and passing him up as I pressed on my super speed to catch up to Iggy.

Said bird kid was trying to unfold his wings, but gravity was keeping them tight against his back as it pulled him towards the earth. "They're stuck!" Iggy yelled back up at me. I screamed in frustration, pulling on more speed to get to Iggy before the ground did. I caught up to him about three feet from the forest floor, knowing I wouldn't be able to catch him before he connected with the earth. Iggy was freaking out, not knowing how much longer he would fall before he hit the ground, his blind eyes straining to see something, anything that would give him a clue. His hands were outspread below his body, as if he was instinctively trying to check his fall. An unexpected lump popped into my throat at the sight of him. It was so pathetic that I felt like I was going to cry.

Suddenly, everything seemed to go slow-motion as I noticed that the angle Iggy's arms were spread at would surely make them break when he hit the ground. I couldn't let him be blind and crippled; he would definitely go emo or something, feeling worthless. An idea popped into my mind, a stupid and crazy idea that could get both of us hurt, but hey, it was still an idea.

I streamlined my body even more, tapping further into my super speed as I flew at a sudden angle. Now Iggy was still falling straight down, whereas I was flying at an angle that made it possible for me to get to him before the ground did. Throwing my tensed arms out in front of me and closing my eyes tightly, I put on a burst of even faster speed, slamming into Iggy's chest. Hard.

Iggy was totally surprised by my tactics, and his arms instantly flew up and around me in a brotherly sort of protection. I had been anticipating this, hoping he would do that so his arms would be out of the way of the ground.

And speaking of the ground…

We hit it at at least thirty miles per hour, Iggy landing on top of me. Typical. Swear words filled my mind as pain simultaneously filled my back. Iggy rolled off of me, groaning in pain as he stood up and stumbled around. I tried to sit up, but a burst of pain flashed through me, a wave of pure white dancing in front of my eyes. "Ow," I whispered, falling back and closing my eyes. Wetness touched my cheek, and for a moment I thought I was crying.

"She got hurt!" Total yelled from right next to my head. Oh, his tongue had been the wet thing touching my cheek. Eww! Total licked me _again_!

I heard footsteps racing towards me, and a shadow fell over my eyes as a pair of calloused hands lifted my head, gently placing them on their lap. I opened my eyes and saw Fang looking down at me, his face filled with worry. "You're showing too much emotion, Fang," I reminded him in a whisper, trying to smile. "What happened to your brick wall-ness?"

"What, I can't be worried about my stupid girlfriend who decided to shoot past me and save her brother, then ended up hurting herself?" Fang whispered back, his voice heated. A real smile filled my face.

"Thanks for caring," I told him, closing my eyes again. "My back really hurts," I added. "So do my wings…" I flinched as Fang gently lifted one of my feathery appendages, straightening out awry feathers and stroking the side. "Ow," I whispered. The pure white wave came back, washing over my vision.

Suddenly, Iggy was sitting next to me. "I'm so sorry Max, this is all my fault. I was so stupid to fall off the branch like that, and my wings were already tucked in, and-" I opened my eyes and glared at him. He flinched as if he could feel it, immediately falling silent.

"Iggy, don't worry about it. I know you would have done the same for me. I know Fang was _doing _the same for you. I know that we all would take care of each other _the same way._ So don't freak out. That's an order." I closed my eyes again, snuggling into Fang's lap. "I'm tired," I mumbled. "Naptime." And with that, I fell asleep.

#^*%)#*$&*

Fang's POV

Did Max really just fall asleep? Really? How the heck did she do that?

The world may never know. After all, this is _Max_ I'm talking about.

Beautiful, unpredictable, stubborn and strong Maximum Ride.

"Did Max just fall asleep?" Iggy whispered, his voice as incredulous as I was feeling.

"Uh huh," I confirmed. "She must be tired." As I spoke, Nudge stumbled to a landing on the pine needle covered ground, her wings collapsing to drag their tips on the ground as she hit the ground on her feet.

"I'm sooo tired Iggy are you okay what the fnick happened? ZOMG is Max okay?" she cried out, running towards me. Nudge knelt next to Max, careful not to touch her outspread, trembling wings. "Is she asleep?" Nudge asked me, brushing back a wisp of hair blown over Max's face. I nodded. "Wow. How did she do that?" Nudge asked. Suddenly, she yawned, blinking sleepily at Max. "Max had the right idea. I have to get some rest," Nudge declared. Promptly, she curled up next to Max, her head resting against Max's leg, and fell sound asleep.

"There's another one out," Iggy commented. "How do they do that so quickly?" I shrugged, watching as Gazzy and Angel made their way slowly down through the treetops.

"Is Max okay?" Gazzy whispered as he and his sister touched down. I shook my head, looking down at Max's peaceful sleeping face. "What happened to her?"  
"She was trying to save me," Iggy told him wretchedly, his voice tinged with pain. "Max tackled me midair and pushed me to the side so my impact wasn't as bad. I landed on her, and now she's hurt. _I _should be the hurt one." Iggy looked sadly at Max with sightless blue eyes. "I feel awful."

"Iggy, Max wouldn't want you to talk like that," Angel chided him in her sweet, little-girl voice. "You know she made her own decision to get to you, and you have to respect that she loves her flock that much." We looked at Angel, surprised by her outburst. She stared back at us, golden head cocked to the side. "What? It's the truth."

"I know Ange, but that was deep," her brother told her. Angel smiled, and Gazzy grinned back, ruffling her curls. "Angel, the philosopher, up next on channel five," he announced in a deep voice that was definitely not his own. I smiled weakly as Angel giggled.

Suddenly, Gazzy and Angel yawned in unison. Iggy smiled at them, offering his lap to Angel. She happily crawled on top of Iggy's crossed legs, falling asleep immediately with her head resting on his shoulder. "Out for the count," Iggy whispered, smiling as Angel hugged him in her sleep. Angel was still everyone's little girl.

"You should get some rest too, Gasman," I pointed out. Gazzy nodded, rubbing his eyes as he laid down next to Nudge, turning on his side and facing the trees. Nudge reached out in her sleep, turning on her side and draping an arm over Gazzy. He stiffened for a second, then relaxed against her grasp, falling asleep in Nudge's arms. "That's so sweet," I murmured. Iggy stifled a laugh, and I turned to glare at him. "What?"

"You're going soft, man. You just said the words 'that's', 'so', and 'sweet' consecutively in a sentence!" Iggy shook his head at me. "Fail. Epic. Fail."

"If I didn't have Max on my lap I would go over there and teach you who's going soft," I threatened. Iggy immediately deflated at the mention of Max.

"I feel so bad," he moaned, gently pushing a strand of Angel's hair behind her ear. Total jumped up on his knee next to Angel, snuggling into her body warmth.

"Don't," the wise dog advised. "What's done is done."

"Thank you Obi Wan," Iggy replied sarcastically. Total didn't remark, and I craned my neck to see that Total too, had fallen asleep. "Okay, this is getting kind of creepy. Everyone just fell asleep immediately, as soon they closed their eyes. I know for a fact it takes at least ten minutes for Gazzy to fall asleep," Iggy whispered to me. I nodded; we had shared a room with the Gasman for years, and he always had taken awhile to fall asleep. This was just strange that he had managed to fall asleep in an instant now. I smiled at where he lay, cuddled against Nudge, who was cuddled against Max, who was cuddled against me. It was very cuddly.

"Maybe he's just really tired?" I suggested, not really believing myself. Iggy frowned, obviously not believing me either.

"Maybe…" he hedged. "Let's stay awake and keep watch. I couldn't fall asleep anyway, not after our little experience just now." I nodded in agreement, shuddering as I thought about how close Iggy and Max had been to crashing into the hard forest floor and maybe… dying.

I tried not to think about that.

"Okay," I agreed. "I feel adrenaline-ized right now." We fell silent, just listening to the flock breathe. I was about to space out, when I realized something really creepy.

"Iggy," I breathed. Listening harder, I figured out that I had been right about the really creepy thing. This was too weird to ignore.

"Yeah?" Iggy asked. The tone of his voice implied that he had been brooding over his and Max's little adventure earlier.

"Listen to the flock." Iggy cocked an eyebrow at me, wondering what I was getting at, but fell silent. I could tell by the way his ears twitched that he was tuning in his super duper hearing. After a moment, Iggy's eyes widened.

"What the-" he whispered. "They're all breathing together!"

"I know," I replied, trying not to let the creepiness of the situation overcome me. "I knew it wasn't natural how they all fell asleep immediately. Something's wrong."

"So ye finally noticed." A loud, rough-sounding voice laughed at us out of the forest. I stiffened, unable to move with Max, lying injured, in my lap. Iggy sprang up, but his hands were full of Angel and Total, and he couldn't see anything anyway.

"Who are you? Did you make everyone fall asleep?" I yelled out into the forest. Silence. Iggy tensed, pivoting around anxiously.

"No, that twasn't me. Bet you it was those Weasley brothers, trying to catch somethin in the forest to brag about." The voice was closer, and I quietly unfolded my wings from my back, tensing the muscles so I could at least whip them into someone trying to get at me or my flock spread out around me. "Blimey, what are _you?"_ The voice came closer, and apparently it could see us and our wings. Branches rustled in the trees at the far edge of the clearing, and Iggy and I whipped our heads around to face it.

A huge man stepped out of it. He was taller than Iggy, which was really saying something, since we're all pretty tall. He had a large, bushy beard bursting off his face, and small, glittering black eyes. The man was dressed in dirty homespun and leather, with giant boots on his feet. "Who the heck are you?" I asked. "You have no right to ask _what_ we are."

The man crinkled his eyes, looking at me thoughtfully. "I see ye got gumption, laddie. I know what you mean; there are some I know that would kill ye for asking that question. Tis just not everyday that you see a bunch of kids with _wings _sleepingin the Forbidden Forest."

I frowned at the man, but Iggy beat me to the question forming on my tongue. "What's the Forbidden Forest?" Iggy asked, gripping Angel tighter. She snuggled into his neck, blissfully unaware of the confrontation happening right in front of her.

"You're in it." With that, the man turned and started to walk away.

"Wait!" I called out. The man turned back, looking at me curiously. "My girlfriend is hurt. Can you help her?" I asked, my voice wavering. I didn't like asking a total stranger for help, but I didn't like seeing Max injured more. The man scrutinized me, then looked at Max, sleeping in my lap.

"What happened to 'er?" he asked, coming closer to take a better look at Max.

"Ig-James here fell off the top of a tree, and Max-Maxine jumped to help him. She tackled him out of the way so he wouldn't hit the ground straight on, and landed hard on her back." Iggy looked ashamed, burying his face in Angel's hair. Total grumbled sleepily in his other hand, but kept sleeping soundly.

The man looked disbelievingly at Iggy. "What are ye doing fallin' outta trees?" he asked, crouching beside Max. Iggy flushed.

"I'm blind! I didn't know I was that close to the end of the branch!" Iggy protested. The man snorted, starting to turn Max over. She groaned, her wings trailing limply over Nudge and Gazzy as she rolled across my lap. The man stopped her when she was lying on her stomach, her face turned to the side, resting on my knee. I looked at her, the peaceful expression previously on her face now clouded with pain.

"Aye, she looks really badly hurt," the man sighed, looking at Max's limp, now bloody back. Her wings looked crumpled and pathetic, sprouting out of her thick gray sweatshirt. "Let's take her up to the school so Madame Pomfrey can help her out. Can ye lift her? I'll take the little ones." The man picked up Nudge and Gazzy, bundling them into his arms. I couldn't help but smile a little as I noticed Nudge's arms go protectively around Gazzy as they were lifted. His wings curled back around her, one feather tickling her face. Nudge smiled in her sleep.

I picked Max up carefully, gently folding her wings in so they wouldn't trail on the ground as we walked.

"What school?" Iggy asked, following the sounds of us walking away. The man turned, looking at us in astonishment.

"What's this? Ye don't even know where ye are?" he asked incredulously. We shook our heads.

"Should we?" Iggy asked. The man's eyes widened.

"Well of course ye should! Ye're at the most famous school of magic there ever was! This, this is the grounds of Hogwarts." And with that, the man walked off, carrying Nudge and Gazzy.

"Well, at least we made it. We can talk to Dumbledore, if he's not actually dead yet," I murmured to Iggy. He nodded, then raised his voice to call to the man.

"Do you know a boy named Harry Potter?" he asked casually. "Scrawny, black hair, lightning bolt scar, pet owl named Hedwig?" The man laughed as he walked swiftly towards a path.

"Who doesn't know Harry Potter? He's here at this school at this very moment, in his first year right now. Did ye want an autograph or something?"

Iggy scowled. "We just wanted to know what book this was. Obviously, we're still in the first one." The man stopped, looking curiously at us.

"What do ye mean, what 'book' ye're in?" he asked. We walked swiftly past him.

"Nothing important. Can we please go quicker? I want to get Max-ine to some help soon." I looked down at my pale girlfriend. The peaceful expression was now completely off her beautiful face. It was now drawn and tight, her lips pulled in a characteristic frown. The man nodded, continuing down the path.

Soon we arrived at the end of the forest, coming out into an open grassy area. A small wooden house stood nearby, and a large set of stadium seats blocked our view to the left. However, directly in front of us, just a couple hundred yards away, stood a gigantic stone castle. I had an idea that this was Hogwarts. "Well come on now. Don't stop to stare, we gotta get your little Maxine up to the castle." The big man lumbered up the slight incline at a fast pace, although Iggy and I had no trouble keeping up with him.

Soon we were inside the castle gates, staring around at the giant entry hall. The big man strode briskly through the corridors, leading us up many flights of stairs. Suddenly, tons of kids burst out of classrooms along the hall, all dressed in black robes and lugging thick, leather bound spell books. They stared and whispered as they saw the man carrying Nudge and Gazzy, sleeping curled around each other, Iggy toting Angel and Total, and me gently carrying Max bridal-style through the hallways, glaring my special death glare at any guys that looked at her. _MY GIRLFRIEND_. _MY_ beautiful, stubborn, bad ass girlfriend. I heard the whispers as the man trailblazed a path through the crowds of students, trying to keep up my emotionless mask, except for a few death glares. I didn't pay attention to the girls staring at me and Iggy, didn't pay attention to the odd teachers coming out of classrooms to peer at us.

"They have _wings!"_

"What are they?"

"_Who_ are they?

"The guys are _hawt,"_

"The girls aren't bad-looking either."

"Why are they in the school?"

I ignored the whispers, acting like I didn't hear anything. Iggy, on the other hand, was loving the attention, smiling at all of the wizard-y students as he hugged Angel protectively to him, clutching a snoozing Total under his arm. Suddenly, a redheaded boy, a girl with loads of fluffy brown hair, and a boy with dark hair and a scar on his forehead pushed through the crowds of students to get to the big guy leading us to the infirmary. Iggy and I stood at least a foot above their height. "Hagrid, who are they?" the girl asked, not bothering to be quiet.

"Why don't you ask us yourself?" I growled at her. I wasn't in a good mood to deal with people who were supposed to be fictional. She stared defiantly at me, and I heard more whispers break out from the girls in the hallway.

"He even _sounds _hawt!"

"I know, right? Totally dreamy."

"Fine them," the brown haired girl told me, her voice bossy. "Who are you?"

"Nick. Maxine. James. Ariel. Zephyr. Monique. And Total," I replied in a monotone. The redheaded guy pushed up next to me, staring at me with a scrutinizing look.

"Why do you have wings?" He didn't seem to really want to know the answer. "Are you some sort of mutant fairy?"

"Mutant, yes. Fairy, no. We're hybrids of human and bird DNA mixed together," Iggy explained cheerfully. "Does your name happen to be Ron Weasley?"

The redhead looked taken aback. "Umm, yeah, it is. Why?"

"No reason." Iggy grinned at him. "You just sound like I imagined you would."

"Creeper," the bossy girl muttered. The boy with black hair smiled, his gaze flickering over to Max, cuddled against my chest.

"I'm Harry. That's Hermione," he introduced himself and the girl. She looked over me with a frown on her face, like she was analyzing me.

"I know." My words were short and clipped. Harry frowned.

"How? I've never met you before," he insisted. I smiled thinly, trying to go faster so we could get Max to the infirmary.

"You're famous, remember?" With that, I pushed ahead, following the guy I now realized was Hagrid to the infirmary. Harry, Ron and Hermione fell back, and we finally got to the infirmary.

"Madame Pomfrey, I've got some patients for ye," Hagrid called out when we entered the room. It was clean, with tons of beds set up in rows against the walls, and a stone floor. None of the beds were occupied, so I gently laid Max down on one, setting her stomach-first on the mattress.

"James, there's a bed a foot in front of you," I directed him, standing up and gently unfolding Max's wings again. "Put Ariel and Total down on it." Iggy obliged, gently tucking the sheets in around Angel, and laying Total on the pillow next to her blond head. Hagrid laid Gazzy and Nudge on one bed, since their wings and arms were still entwined. _Was _there something going on between them?

I put that thought out of my mind, knowing Max wouldn't be pleased that her little charges were growing up.

Soon, a lady in white bustled into the room, her dark hair in a bun on her head. "Mercy! Where did these children come from? Why do you have wings?" She directed her last question at me. I shrugged, smiling a flash of a smirk at her.

"Genetics. You know how tricky they can be," I responded, looking back down at Max. "Can you help my girlfriend please?"

The lady, who I assumed was Madame Pomfrey, hurried over to the bed where Max lay, her face pale and tight. "The others are okay?"

"Yeah, they just randomly decided it was naptime and fell immediately asleep," Iggy piped up from his seat on Angel's bed. Madame Pomfrey furrowed her brow, but didn't say anything as she looked over Max's back.

"She has a few broken pieces of bone in her spine, and hundreds of tiny muscles in her –wings- have been strained out of place. What happened to her?"

"James fell out of a tree, Maxine flew after him, fell on her back on the hard ground going way too fast." I supplied the information quickly, with no emotion in my tone as I gazed at Max. I heard Iggy fidget, and knew he still felt guilty.

"Oh, well that's interesting. No problem, I'll just give her some tonic when she wakes up to mend the bones and rearrange the pulled muscles." Madame Pomfrey straightened up, looking over Nudge and Gazzy with a stern look on her face.

"I'd say one per bed, but I don't feel like battling them right now," she sighed, hurrying back into her office. Hagrid ambled out of it, stopping next to Max's bed to talk to me again. Ugh. I had already used up my word supply for today!

"There ye go, Madame Pomfrey will have her right in no time! Her tonics always work, strengthened with magic and powerful herbs, ye see. And the others will wake up eventually. Twas just a simple sleeping spell, it'll wear off quickly." Hagrid walked over to the door, then paused. "Ye can sleep here for tonight, I suppose. Madame Pomfrey'll take ye down to the dining hall at dinnertime. Don't let any nosy students bother ye!" he warned us, before disappearing down the hallway. I looked back down at Max, stroking her pale forehead.

"Well, that was eventful. Who knew this place was actually real?" Iggy remarked, looking around. I didn't reply, lost in my thoughts. Hopefully, we could talk to Dumbledore soon, and get out of here. This place made me uneasy, and I didn't like the way Harry had looked at Max.

Not. One. Bit.

**THIRD PERSON'S POV**

Harry, Hermione and Ron hurried down the corridors, heading to Charms class. Murmurs about the new arrivals were the only talk running through the crowd. Ron was bragging about how James immediately knew who he was, even though he was _blind._ All the girls were swarming around him, demanding to know if he knew James and if he could hook him up with them.

Hermione nudged Harry as they climbed a staircase. "So? What are you going to do about her? That Nick person seems to be very protective of her."

Harry pretended not to know what she was talking about, valiantly fighting off a blush. "What do you mean, Hermione? Who's 'her'?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That girl in Nick's arms. I saw you look at her. What are you going to do about it?" Harry shook his head, refusing to look in Hermione's eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he announced firmly. Ron scoffed, finally catching back up to them after his detour with the girls clamoring about James.

"Hermione's right as usual, Harry. You have a crush on that winged girl," Ron sang. Harry shoved him, a blush rising on his cheeks.

"You don't have to scream it to the rooftops," Harry hissed.

Ron shrugged. "Why not? If anyone's got a chance at tearing her away from Nick, then it's you. You've got talent, looks, _fame_… What more could a girl want?"

Hermione huffed, stalking away from him. Ron stared after her quizzically. "What's her problem?" he asked Harry. Harry shook his head, speeding up to catch up with Hermione.

"Everyone's going bonkers!" Ron announced, hurrying to follow his best friends. "Absolutely bloody bonkers."

**HAPPY NEW YEARS GUYS! I love you all! My New Years resolution for 2011 is faster, evenly spread updates for my stories. Thank you all, reviews are loved, favorites appreciated! **

**But I'd really love it if you'd personally tell me your views on this in a review…. =D**

**Happy 2011! May the New Year be blessed for all of you!**

**~TMI~**


	7. Yet another stupid AN

Hey Peoples, I'm so sorry I've been MIA.

REPENT.

It's not entirely my fault. You see, soon after New Years-

Nudge: And that New Years Resolution you made that raised everyone's hopes about you updating quicker-

I said I was sorry! Anyway, my computer totally and utterly DIED. And I had half of the next iPod Screen chappie typed up, all of the next chapter for two other stories, the ideas for School Days and Erasing Lissa, and the beginnings of the next chapter for ATM Wars and Race for the Cure. So yeah, I need to figure out how to raise my laptop from the dead. Then, I will update EVERYTHING in a major spree! But just saying, I procrastinated on writing this A/N 'cause I hate writing them, and there are some stories where this will be the second A/N, which I HATE. I'm so sorry you guys. Please forgive me.

Angel: She's banging her head against the wall.

Gazzy: Poor TMI…. –eats cookies-

HEY! That was MY cookie! –tackles Gazzy-

…

This is Nudge writing. TMI is wrestling with Gazzy over the last cookie now. So yeah, this note was typed on TMI's mother's computer, but the lady won't let her write whole chapters 'cause it takes too long and TMI's little brother-

Angel: She calls him Shortso. XP

-needs to type up his project. So yeah! Byezas!

Angel? Will you do the honors?

Angel: SURE! So sorry about the inconvenience people, TMI is beating herself up about disappointing you guys…. Now to write her signature thingymacdoodle!

~TMI~


	8. Max Repair

**Dedicated to…**

**Alexis Taylor**

**MangaLuver1423****  
****The Seagull****  
****Dark Skitty Power****  
****Nazzy Hater****  
****Hiya****  
****Padfootlover109****  
Marguerite Spring**

**WARNING: This chapter is kinda FLUFFY oriented. XD Nothing bad though, just cute FAX. =D**

Pain. Just. Bloody. Pain.  
Scattered images raced through my mind, making me shiver unpleasantly. It reminded me too much of The Voice's arrival in my head for the sensation to be anywhere near comfortable with me. Physically, I felt like I had been slammed inside a steel barrel and sent tumbling over the edge of Niagara freaking Falls, with no padding whatsoever. Ugh...  
It was a struggle to pry my eyes open, but after many valiant tries, I managed to do it. Happily, the first thing that met my eyes was Fang. He was sleeping on the bed next to the one I was on, his dark hair flopping luxuriously across his forehead. I smirked when I noticed his legs hanging off the footboard; these beds were too dang small for fourteen-year-old bird kids.  
Wait a sec. I feel like I'm missing something important.

How the fnick did we get on these beds anyway? The last thing I remember, we were in a forest, which usually don't have nice little beds lying around.  
I tried to sit up and survey my surroundings, only to be met with blindingly white waves of pain crashing down on me. It took all my willpower not to scream like a little girl. Instead, I let out a stifled squeak, clenching my fists and biting my lip. My back was throbbing, and I couldn't move my outspread wings. They felt too heavy to even bother trying to move.

Typical.  
I heard bedsprings creak as Fang jumped off his bed. The little bugger of a boyfriend must have heard my squeak. He was always oddly in tune with me, which was high on the list of things about Fang that I loved, _and _the list of things I was irked by. It was hard to be tough and brave pain when there was someone right next to you who knew exactly how you were truly feeling.  
Cool fingers brushed my forehead, and I relished the sensation against my hot skin, closing my eyes. It was too much of an effort to keep them open. It felt like I was burning, while on the side, my back was being driven through with sledgehammers. "Max? Are you awake?" Fang murmured, his voice soft and comforting. I squeaked again. My eyes were still screwed shut, and I could barely think for the pain racing through my wings. My vertebrae felt like pudding- pudding that was very aware of the fact it was dying in agony. "It's alright Max, Madame Pomfrey is going to fix your back and wings," Fang soothed, his voice slightly strained. I vaguely wondered who Madame Pomfrey was, but made no response. I had to focus all my energy on staying conscious. The pain in my back was completely agonizing now that I was fully awake.

It was silent for a moment, but I had barely noticed before Fang spoke up again. "Max, just remember that I love you, okay?" he murmured, stroking my hair back. The tiniest glimmer of a smile tugged at my mouth through the pain. Fang almost always knew exactly what to say to make me feel better.  
"I, I love you too Fang," I managed to rasp out, attempting to open my eyes. They stayed firmly shut, so I just concentrated on speaking. "I love you," I repeated, loving the way the words fit so easily in the air between us. I could practically feel Fang smiling.  
"That's what I hoped you would say," he replied, trying to control his voice. I smiled more firmly, braving through the pain. Almost hesitantly, a pair of familiar lips dropped onto mine, enveloping me in pure bliss. I promptly forgot about everything as I managed to lift a hand to Fang's cheek, pulling him closer. I would never get tired of kissing Fang. Ever.  
"Excuse me, Nick, but I'm sure Maxine would like her injuries fixed." A precise voice startled me out of my dreamlike state. Sadly, Fang pulled away, leaving my heart beating thirty times faster than normal. I dropped my hand back onto the mattress, fighting to open my eyes. They stayed closed, which irritated me to no end. I don't appreciate my body acting so defiant to what I want it to do. "How are you feeling, Maxine?" the voice asked. I could hear it getting closer, along with the click of high heels on the floor. I gritted my teeth as a new wave of pain pulsed over me.  
"I wish you hadn't reminded me I was hurt," I replied, wincing as my wings began to throb. Fang snorted from his bed, obviously expecting my words. Dang boy. He knew me too well.  
"I can fix that, you'll just need to drink these two potions. They should fix the bones and muscles you've mangled." The voice sounded slightly amused. At least _this_ one wasn't in my head. "I need you to sit up so you can drink these," the voice continued. "I know sitting up is going to hurt, but I'll fix your spine and vertebrae first so it won't hurt for too long."  
"Fix my bones and muscles with two drinks?" I asked, sounding incredulous. "What are you using, magic potions?"  
"Of course I am. What else would I use?" the voice answered, sounding confused. I frowned, wondering why this lady was messing with me so much. I have enough problems in my young, delicate life.  
"Hogwarts, _Maxine_," Fang reminded me, stressing my 'name'. Memories sparked in my head. That's why my back and wings hurt! Suddenly I recalled everything that happened since we landed in that annoying tree. Fang read my thoughts, like always.  
"Oh yeah," I mumbled. Fang snorted again.  
I wished briefly that I could open my eyes and glare at him, but instead clenched my fists and spoke again. "I'm going to sit up in three seconds. Please hand me the potiony thing as soon as I'm up so i can chug it quickly. Ready, one, two, three!" I swung myself up into a sitting position as fast as possible, shrieking out loud from the pain. Swiftly, a tall glass was shoved into my hand, and I immediately encased it in a death grip to work off my pain. I somehow managed to stay conscious and chug it down in four seconds. It tasted awful, like one of Gazzy's err, _gifts,_ but in liquid form. Thankfully, I barely noticed the less-than-delicious taste. Slowly, the pain faded from my back, leaving only a cool, tingling sensation. Oddly though, there was another, weirder feeling fluttering inside my head. I tried to ignore both as I slowly wrenched my eyes open, feeling the damp trails of tears on my cheeks. The first thing I saw was Fang staring worriedly at me, standing next to a stern-looking woman holding a glass of orange gunk. I felt kind of woozy from the skinning sensation inside my skull. "Did I just drink something disgusting like that?" I feebly pointed towards the second potion. Fang and the lady nodded. "Oh crap," I groaned, falling back against the pillows. "I'm going to be sick."  
"I could give you another potion to help with that," the lady offered, smiling at me. I paled.  
"No no no, that's okay. I'm fine, honestly," I assured her. "Just spiffy, see? I can stand up and everything!" To prove my point, I sprang out of bed, almost crashing into Fang. He sprang out of the way, surprised at my strange actions. As soon as my feet hit the floor, my knees buckled, and I faceplanted into Fang's, thankfully empty, bed. "Oich, that hurt," I announced cheerfully. "Maybe I shouldn't walk yet. It's hard to walk without my wings balancing me out. They hurt too much right now to try to straighten out."  
The lady's eyes glittered as she watched me wobble to my feet. I couldn't make it back to my bed, so I gingerly lowered myself into Fang's instead. The pillow smelled like him, so I buried my head in it. "Mmm..." I mumbled.  
"Umm, Maxine? We need you to drink the second potion now," Fang told me gently, helping me back into a sitting position. "This will make your wings stop hurting." I pulled Fang down next to me on the bed, smiling crazily. I felt reeeeeally weird, not myself at all.  
"Okay Fangles," I replied, reaching for the glass. "I'll drink the pumpkin barf." I reached for the second glass, and the lady handed it to me. Fang just stared at me in alarm.  
The lady gazed at me questioningly. "Why did you call Nick 'Fangles'?"  
"Buzz buzz buzz..." I mumbled happily. I like imitating bumble bees, I thought drowsily. Buzzy buzz buzz...  
The lady stared at me again, and I saw Fang shake his head as I downed the pumpkin barf. It tasted like frog guts. Ewww... Why do I even know what frog guts taste like, you might ask. Let's just say… that sometimes a hungry bird kid on the run gets desperate. This tasted exactly like Frog a la Iggy. With a frown, I wiped my lips off, staring at the empty glass. "Did you purposely make those disgusting?" I asked bluntly, falling back on Fang's bed. I felt mentally worse than before now, but at least now my wings had stopped hurting.  
"No, Miss Maxine, I did not," the lady informed me, gritting her teeth slightly. I smiled widely at her, shutting my eyes.

"I feel reeeeeeallly weeeewird!" I sang, kicking my feet up and down on the bed. "Reeeeeealllly weeeewird!"  
"Calm down, Maxine-" Fang tried to say, but I didn't let him finish.  
"I FEEL REEEEEEEEEAAAALLLY WEEEIRD RIGHT NOW, LIKE, REEEEEEEAAALLLY WEIRD!" I yelled, kicking my legs higher. Suddenly, I felt kind of tired. "MAXI IS TIRED!" I announced, before promptly falling asleep.

My head was pounding, and it was all I could do not to groan. I could hear very faint voices speaking, and opened my eyes. No one was in this room with me. I sat up to look around, finding myself in a plain white room with gray flagstones on the floor and curtained beds marching up and down two opposite walls. I was lying in one of the beds with the curtains drawn back, and light from a huge glass window was shining directly in my eyes. Straining my ears to hear more, I caught a snatch of conversation. Fang and Iggy were talking in the hallway outside the room. "She went totally loopy, Igs," Fang told Iggy, sounding slightly concerned. "Like, she was buzzing like a bee, and called me 'Fangles' in front of Madame Pomfrey."  
"Fangles?" Iggy snickered. There was a moment of silence, then Iggy yelped loudly. "Ouch! Gee, Fang, stop being so violent!"  
"Like I was trying to tell you, the nurse said she must have had a weird reaction to the potions. You heard her screaming," Fang continued. Iggy laughed again, sounding highly amused. I swung my feet out of bed, padding noiselessly towards them. Neither noticed me approaching the door from their places in the hallway.  
"Yeah, she was all, I FEEL REEEEEEALLLY WEIRD!" Iggy shrieked in a falsetto tone. I hoped that for his sake, he wasn't attempting to imitate me. Smiling tightly, I stepped out into the hallway. Iggy stiffened, and Fang's eyes widened slightly. I ran a hand self-consciously through my messy hair, suddenly wishing I had fixed my bedraggled appearance before coming out to confront them.  
"Hello, boys," I greeted them. "What were you two discussing on such a nice day?"  
"How much you were flipping out after you took your medicine," Iggy replied, smirking. "But you already knew that, you little eavesdropper."  
"I may or may not have been listening," I admitted, smirking back. "What happened? I can't really remember anything..." I trailed off as I noticed their expressions. Iggy looked positively constipated from holding back laughter, and Fang's eyes were dancing in amusement. "Oh lord," I groaned, burying my head in my hands. "What did I do?"  
Fang explained oh so carefully my reactions to the potions, in small words like "hilarious" and "highly embarrassing" and "for you."  
I have such great friends, don't I?  
I cut Fang off with a glare after he used the words "funniest thing since the Valium Incident."

"Oh no you didn't," I growled, getting up in his face and increasing the power of my glare. He smirked in reply, and I struggled to keep glaring, bringing my mind back to the matter at hand. "I told you I would be forced to seriously maim you if you brought up the Valium incident. Ever. And that still stands."

"Oops. I forgot, I guess," Fang returned, looking mischievous. I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Hello? Still here," Iggy said, waving his hands around.

"I know," Fang and I replied in unison, not breaking gaze with each other.

"What's the Valium Incident?" Iggy asked curiously. Immediately, I snapped my eyes away from Fang and stalked up to Iggy. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, bringing him face to face with me. His pale eyes widened, and he unconsciously shrank back in fear.

"Never speak of the Valium Incident ever again if you like your limbs," I hissed. Iggy nodded, trying to get me to let go of his shirt. I released him, and he straightened back up, scuttling away from me like a frightened beetle. Smiling tightly, I went back to Fang. "That goes for you too," I added, shooting another glare at him. Fang simply smiled at me, taking my breath away. Fang should really smile more often, so I can get used to the sight. It's very startling, since Fang has such a great smile.

"But Max, you love me thiiiiis muuuch!" Fang insisted, spreading his arms out. Immediately, my glare intensified sevenfold.

"YOU SPOKE OF IT!" I yelled, lunging forward to punch him in the face. Fang dodged the blow, taking off down the hallway. "I'll get you!" I vowed, sprinting after him. Fang actually laughed, a sound that made my day that much brighter. We skidded on the gray flagstones, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the paintings move to gawk at us. We probably were exciting for them. Too kids who probably looked like regular students, racing down the hallways in the middle of the school day. Oh yeah, and the kids had _wings._

Since everyone at Hogwarts already knew we had wings, we didn't bother hiding them. Therefore, Fang's gorgeous, inky black wings were spread out behind him, trailing in the air as he ran away from me. My own wings were also unfolded, like I was about to fly at any second- wait a sec.

That gives me an idea.

With an evil grin on my face, I followed Fang down a staircase to another landing, then another, then another. Neither of us were anywhere near getting tired, and Fang kept trying to lose me in the hallways. I was too fast, though, and kept only a few yards behind him the entire chase. Finally, Fang came to another set of stairs, except these ones were _huge_, and they led down into a large hall with a high ceiling. I smiled. This would be perfect for my plan.

Fang rapidly began to descend the stairs, his feet moving so fast that they were a black blur. I watched him skip six steps at a time as he sprinted down the staircase, then cracked my wings open wider and took off from the top of the stairs. I used a booster from my super speed to catch up with Fang, whistling right past him. I felt a wingtip nick the side of his head, and he whipped his head around to stare at me. Immediately, I turned around and came back at him. Fang stopped on the stairs, his eyes wide as he tried to decide what to do. I was too fast for him, though, and rocketed back at him before the poor boy could get his thoughts in order.

I slammed into Fang, feeling his arms wrap instinctively around me as he fell backward from the force of catching me. I grinned, pulling my wings in and jerking backward, using my weight to pull Fang down the stairs. Fang wrapped his wings around me as we tumbled down the steps, bumping painfully on the stone edges.

Ah well, at least they were carpeted. All I could see was a wall of black feathers and Fang's shoulder, and I held onto him tightly so we wouldn't get separated during the fall. I grinned, feeling Fang's arms clench around me. He spat out a few choice words, and I couldn't help but laugh. Finally, we hit the bottom of the stairs, rolling a few feet until we finally stopped, me lying on top of Fang. He uncurled his wings from around me, letting them sprawl to either side instead. I grinned wildly as Fang pushed me off of him and sat up. Fang shook his head at me, looking annoyed. I couldn't help but giggle at the expression on his face.

"That was fun!" I declared, jumping up and dusting my jeans off. "Let's do it again!"

Fang glared at me, and shook his head once. "Max, if that was your idea of fun, you are truly crazy."

"And proud of it," I agreed. "Well, now you know not to bring up you-know-what."

Fang grinned suddenly, the abrupt appearance of such a bright smile making me blink and forget my name for a moment. "What, the Valium Incident?" he asked sweetly. "But you love me, Max!"

I glared at him, not happy now that he had brought up _THE INCIDENT _again. "You let yourself think that," I growled, starting back towards the stairs again. Before I had gone three steps, a pair of long, familiar arms had wrapped around me, holding me against a hard, muscled body that I knew so well.

"I will think that," Fang breathed in my ear. I shivered at the air tickling my cheek, and struggled to free myself from his grasp. Fang didn't move, simply holding me firmly against him.

"Okay then, think that," I whispered back, trying to find the voice to yell at him.

"I will. Thank you for your permission," he replied, his voice as soft as my own. Before I could attempt to escape again, he whirled me around and kissed me, right in the middle of Hogwarts.

I immediately forgot why I was mad at him. I molded readily into his grasp, reaching up to grip his shoulders. Too soon though, Fang pulled away, a small, secretive smile on his lips. I sighed once, laying my head against his chest. Fang knew me too well.

Suddenly, a loud noise began above us, and we sprang apart. Warily, I looked up, folding my wings in as I prepared myself for anything. Fang, who had tensed up beside me, abruptly relaxed. I looked at him, raising an eyebrow, and he nodded at the staircase. A tidal wave of students had flooded out of the hallways, crowding down the staircase and coming towards us. I felt a wave of claustrophobia wash over me as the students approached. I wouldn't cope well in this huge crowd. "Come on," I murmured to Fang, pushing down with my wings as hard as I could. The faithful feathered appendages lifted me up above the crowd, so I was soaring in a wide circle under the high, domed ceiling. All of the students stopped to stare, gasping in awe. Fang shrugged and rose up to fly right above me, our wings moving in time so we wouldn't collide. Slowly, the crowd of students moved on, most of them continuing to glance up at us from time to time. I grinned at Fang. "I like this place," I told him, watching the crowd below us disperse. "These kids just watch us fly around and continue on. We're almost normal." Fang nodded, looking past me at the kids below. I craned my neck upwards to follow his line of sight, and frowned. He was watching a redheaded girl walk out of the hall, chatting with another girl. "Fang," I whispered warningly. He immediately snapped his head up to look at me, an innocent expression on his face. "Not cool," I snapped, turning my head back to look down.. Fang snickered.

"Honestly, I just wanted to see what you would do, oh protective girlfriend," he confessed, a huge smirk on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him, snapping my arm upwards to land a punch on his arm. "Ow," he complained. "How come I have to get the violent, protective girl?" he teased, nudging my back with his foot.

"Well, at least I'm pretty," I joked back, whipping my hair back and forth.

"You've got that right," Fang murmured, reaching down to grab my hand. A smile tugged at my mouth as I felt the familiar, callused hand intertwined with mine.

"So, what do you think we were sent to Hogwarts for?" I asked.

"I dunno. Maybe we have to learn magic?" he suggested. I laughed.

"Yeah, right. Totally. That's just what the world needs: flying kids who can wield a wand," I scoffed. Fang was silent.

"Maybe that's what they think the world _does _need. Maybe the scientists want us to learn magic," Fang replied quietly. I was about to ask if our tumble down the stairs had affected his head when the Voice interrupted.

_Fang is correct._ _At least if you don't want Dylan, than Fang is a smart boy also._

_ I don't need you critiquing my relationships,_ I snapped at the Voice. _And really? You want the flock to learn magic?_

_ My bosses do. So yes._

_ Your bosses aren't very smart, then. Think of what destruction we could cause, _I reminded the Voice. _I don't think giving Iggy and Gazzy magic is a good idea. Angel and Nudge either, for that matter. And Fang doesn't need magic._

_Please don't say some sappy stuff about how his eyes are magical or something._

_ I wasn't going to!_ The Voice always managed to tick me off somehow.

_Anyway, Maximum, you should get started on learning that magic. And Fang is wondering why you aren't answering him, by the way._

_ Gee, thanks._ I shook my head to clear it of the Voice, not that it would actually help. "Sorry Fang. Voice."

"Oh."

"It said that you were right. We are here to learn magic."

"Cool."

"Back to one word sentences, I see?" I rolled my eyes. Fang could be very difficult when he wanted to be.

There was a slight pause before Fang replied. "Yes," he decided. I snorted, gently pulling my hand out of his and beginning to descend.

"Most of the kids are gone now. We can go down," I told Fang. Without a word, he flew down alongside me, landing back down on the floor. The Golden Trio suddenly stepped forward out of the shadows, Hermione leading the way towards Fang and I. I blinked as I spotted them. "Look, Nick! It's the famous guy!" I pointed towards Harry, who blushed and didn't say anything. Fang narrowed his eyes towards The Boy Who Lived, but I stepped forward and shook his hand. "Hello Harry, I'm Maxine Ride. Pleased to meet you!" I pumped Harry's hand up and down energetically, and he seemed a bit dazed.

"Hi, umm, Maxine," he finally mumbled in reply, moving a hand up to ruffle his hair. I let go of Harry's hand, turning to Ron next.

"And you're Ron Weasley!" I exclaimed, shaking his hand too. I could tell that Fang was facepalming behind me, but I ignored him. It's not everyday you meet the main characters of Harry Potter. Ron looked proud that I recognized him.

"Yes, I am Ron Weasley," he confirmed, smiling at me. I nodded, listening to his voice.

"You know, you sound exactly like I thought you would sound," I told him. It was true. Ron sounded exactly like I had imagined he would while reading the book. I let go of his hand and moved on to Hermione.

"That's what the other guy said too!" Ron told Harry excitedly. "I'm as famous as you are!" Harry rolled his eyes and didn't reply to his friend.

"Hermione Granger," I mused as I grabbed her hand too. "I always liked you the best, you know. Ron was such a jerk to you earlier this year," I confided in her. "I mean seriously. But at least he made up with you."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously, and I could imagine Fang facepalming even more. "How do you know that Ron was a jerk to me at first?" she asked.

"You sound like I imagined too!" I told her, avoiding the question. I looked back at Fang. "Wow, Nick. It's not everyday you meet the Golden Trio."

"Maxine, why don't you go lie down," he suggested, grabbing my arm in one hand and placing the other on the small of my back. He began to push me back towards the stairs, but I stopped to say good bye to Harry, Hermione and Ron first.

"Bye guys! I'll see you later!" I waved at them, and they cautiously waved back before disappearing down the other hallway. I immediately relaxed, letting Fang forcibly push me back up the stairs to the hospital wing.

"You are an idiot," Fang hissed, his voice angry. I noticed that the hand he laid on my back was still gentle, though, despite the tone his voice took on. "Why did you say that to Hermione?"

"I wanted to freak them out so they don't bother us too often," I confessed with a grin. "Plus, it was pretty cool to meet the real people, not just the actors. I'll have to write a letter to Daniel Radcliffe. How should I let him down gently that he doesn't sound anything like Harry Potter?"

Fang ignored my question, pushing me the rest of the way towards the hospital wing in silence. He pushed me in first, finally releasing his grip on my arm. My eyes widened at the room's occupants, and I rushed forward. "Dumbledore!" I exclaimed, rushing towards the wizard. He smiled at me, looking away from where he was talking with Angel. The whole flock was seated on several of the beds, crowded around Dumbledore and staring at him interestedly.

"Hello, Maximum," he replied. Wow, his eyes actually did twinkle.

I frowned suddenly. "How do you know my name?" I demanded. Did he have a deal with the scientists? Was he going to turn me in?

"I read your books. You know, you sound exactly like I thought you would," Dumbledore told me. I raised an eyebrow at the old wizard.

"Books?" I asked skeptically. "We don't have any books."

"I didn't think I had any books either," he replied, pushing his glasses up on his crooked nose. "But then I was out shopping in London one day, and I see a bookshop selling a book called The Deathly Hallows, and it said that this book was the last in the Harry Potter series." Dumbledore paused. "I was surprised, of course. I wondered how mere muggles knew about the fame of little Harry Potter. But when I walked into that store, the clerk knew all about Harry's past, and said several confusing things about what I assume must be the future. This J.K. Rowling knows far too much for her own good."

"Did you read the books?" I asked curiously. "I don't think I would be able to resist reading about my future." Iggy coughed, and it sounded suspiciously like he was covering a laugh.

"Ah, no I did not. I don't wish to read about my future. It takes all the surprise out of life, both good and bad." Dumbledore fell silent. "Unfortunately, the clerk informed me that the worst part was 'when that awful teacher offs Professor Dumbledore'." We fell silent, the flock uncomfortably aware of what the clerk had been talking about. "So now I know my own death, which is a very sad thing. I hope I can still treat all of my colleagues the same way after hearing that."

"We know which teacher kills you, if you want to know," Gazzy offered quietly. To our surprise, Dumbledore laughed, shaking his head emphatically.

"Oh, no young Gasman. What would I tell them? That I had been informed they would kill me later in life, so it'd be best to get rid of them now?" Dumbledore shook his head again. "No, I would rather not."

"How much do you know about us?" I asked. Dumbledore smiled.

"Well, young Maximum, those books are written in _your _point of view," he confessed, his blue eyes twinkling again. My jaw dropped, and I heard Fang laugh quietly off to the side.

"I have to read those," he muttered. I elbowed him playfully but Dumbledore grew serious.

"Fang, I forbid you to read those books. Like I said, it isn't good to know the future. You will know what happens soon enough." Suddenly, Dumbledore's expression lightened. "However, you _can _read up to- have you met a boy named Dylan yet?" he asked suddenly. Confused, we all shook our heads. "Have you been to Antarctica?" We all nodded. "Has Max's mother been kidnapped before?" We nodded, marveling that he knew all of this stuff."Then you can read up to the book called Max."

"I have a book named after myself?" I mused. "Cool!"

"You have an entire series named after yourself," Dumbledore corrected with a smile. "And thousands of fans, thousands of stories based off your adventures on several internet websites, and I personally know several people who dressed up as Maximum Ride for Halloween, complete with ripped jeans and fake wings." My jaw dropped at this startling information, and Dumbledore thoughtfully added, "There were a few Angels and Nudges too."

Angel and Nudge both squealed excitedly at this news. "I'm famous!" Nudge exclaimed. "Thousands of people know my name!"

"Calm down, Nudge," Iggy cautioned. "Don't burst a gut." That just made Nudge squeal louder.

"Back on subject!" I yelled, causing Nudge to shut up quickly. "Dumbledore, since you know so much about us, I'm assuming you know about whitecoats."

"Why yes, I do," he acknowledged.

"Have you ever had dealings with them?" I asked. Dumbledore frowned.

"No, I haven't. Why would you think I would associate with those awful muggles? They don't understand anything." Dumbledore looked slightly disgusted at the thought of helping the whitecoats, and I felt reassured.

"Cause we were captured by scientists whose School was coated in invisibility paint, and they said you gave it to them!" Angel explained, looking at Dumbledore with wide blue eyes. He looked surprised.

"Really? When was this?" he asked urgently.

"About a week ago, give or take a couple days," I replied. "Why?"

"Because Professor Snape asked for permission to make a rather large batch of special potions. It's possible that he was making invisibility paint, judging from the ingredients," Dumbledore said grimly. "I'll ask him." Dumbledore got up off the bed and strode to the hearth. There was a small green pot on the mantelpiece, and he took a pinch of sparkling powder from it.

"Floo," Gazzy breathed, watching Dumbledore throw it into the fire. "I wonder how explosive I could make that," he mused, his blue eyes going wide as we witnessed the flames glow green instead of red.

"Don't even think about it," I replied absentmindedly, intent on watching Dumbledore bend down towards the fire. His long white beard dangled dangerously closely to the fire as he called out into it.

"Serverus, I would like a word in the hospital wing, please," Dumbledore requested calmly. With awe, we watched him step back, and Professor Snape himself sprang out of the fire. Snape landed calmly on his feet, dusting off his robes.

"Yes, Professor?"

**DUN DUN DUN! Cliffhangah! I just went on an updating spree today, since I had nothing better to do, so here's another chapter! =D**

**REviEw please! =D**

**~TMI~**


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